Chương 6 - The Choice
Celia stared at the man blocking her only exit.
The gratitude she had felt for him an hour ago was completely gone, replaced by a cold, desperate fury.
"My sister is going to die because of your criminal empire," Celia said, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
Lorenzo’s heavily armed men stood in the hallway, watching the exchange in tense silence.
"We will find another way to save Maya," Lorenzo promised, holding his hands up in a placating gesture.
"There is no other way, and we only have ninety minutes left!" Celia shouted.
She looked around the small dorm room, desperate for a weapon or a distraction.
Her eyes landed on the heavy ceramic lamp sitting on Maya's desk.
Before Lorenzo could react, Celia grabbed the lamp and smashed it against the fire alarm pull station on the wall.
Klaxons began screaming instantly, and thick foam started spraying from the ceiling sprinklers.
The sudden chaos and blinding spray distracted Lorenzo for exactly one second.
It was all the time Celia needed.
She ducked under his massive arm and sprinted out of the dorm room.
Students were pouring out of their rooms into the hallway, creating a chaotic sea of panicked bodies.
Celia used her small frame to weave through the crowd, ignoring Lorenzo's shouts behind her.
She burst through the emergency exit doors and sprinted into the rainy night.
She flagged down a passing taxi on Sheridan Road and shoved a fifty-dollar bill at the driver.
"Downtown, the architectural building on Wacker Drive, drive as fast as you can!" she yelled.
The cab sped off just as Lorenzo's men burst out of the dormitory.
Twenty minutes later, Celia used her employee badge to enter the darkened, silent office building.
She rode the elevator down to the sub-basement where the old archives were kept.
Her hands shook violently as she inserted the silver key into the heavy metal vault door.
The lock clicked, and the heavy door swung open, revealing rows of dusty architectural blueprints.
She frantically searched the section labeled for the year Lorenzo took power.
Behind a stack of city planning documents, she found it.
A thick, black leather-bound book secured with a heavy iron clasp.
She pulled the ledger against her chest, feeling the immense weight of the secrets it held.
This book was the key to saving Maya's life.
She turned to leave the vault, ready to call an Uber to Navy Pier.
A tall shadow suddenly filled the doorway of the vault.
Lorenzo stood there, completely soaked from the rain, his chest heaving from exertion.
He slowly raised his suppressed pistol and aimed it directly at Celia's chest.
"Put the book back on the shelf, Celia," Lorenzo ordered, his voice devoid of any emotion.
Celia hugged the ledger tighter, staring down the dark barrel of the gun.
May you like
"Shoot me then," she challenged, stepping toward him. "Because I am not leaving without it."
Lorenzo’s finger tightened visibly on the trigger.
