Chapter 9 - The Maid's Vengeance
Elena screamed as Matteo collapsed onto the gravel driveway.
Sofia froze in terror, completely paralyzed by the sudden violence.
"Get in the van and stay down!" Elena yelled at the terrified girl.
Elena grabbed Matteo by his bulletproof vest and dragged his heavy body behind the engine block of the vehicle.
Blood poured rapidly from a nasty wound in his upper shoulder.
He was unconscious, his breathing shallow and erratic.
Another sniper round sparked off the asphalt mere inches from Elena's foot.
She looked up at the rusted roof of the steel mill and spotted the glint of a sniper scope.
It was the man with the black snake tattoo on his hand, the Viper assassin who had started this entire nightmare.
Elena knew she could not outrun a trained sniper while carrying a wounded man.
She checked the magazine of her stolen handgun.
She had exactly four bullets left.
She took a deep breath, suppressing every ounce of fear in her body.
"Stay with him," Elena ordered Sofia, who was crying in the backseat.
Elena bolted from behind the van, sprinting in a chaotic, unpredictable zig-zag pattern toward the building.
The sniper fired twice, the heavy bullets tearing through the gravel right behind her heels.
She reached the blind spot directly beneath the sniper's perch and slipped inside a ground-floor access hatch.
She climbed the rusted iron stairs in absolute silence, her heart pounding like a war drum in her chest.
When she reached the roof, the assassin was still lying on his stomach, scanning the driveway below.
Elena walked up behind him and pressed the cold barrel of her gun directly against the back of his skull.
"This is for my brother," she whispered.
The assassin stiffened, slowly raising his hands away from his rifle.
"You won't shoot," he mocked in a thick accent.
"You're just a maid."
Elena didn't say a single word.
She pulled the trigger, sending a bullet directly through his right hand, completely shattering the black snake tattoo.
The assassin screamed in agonizing pain, rolling onto his back.
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Elena kicked the heavy sniper rifle off the edge of the roof.
She left the bleeding man for the approaching police and sprinted back down the stairs to save the man she loved.
