Chapter 5 - The Safehouse
Harper screamed at the top of her lungs and pushed Vincent backward with all her strength.
A high-caliber sniper bullet shattered the car window in the exact spot where his chest had been a second earlier.
Vincent grabbed Harper by the waist and dragged her behind the heavy steel frame of his armored SUV.
His bodyguards poured out of the secondary vehicles and returned suppressive fire toward the dark rooftops.
Vincent shoved Harper into the backseat of his SUV and ordered his driver to get them out of there.
The heavy vehicle tore through the alleyway, leaving the burning sedan and the chaotic shootout far behind.
Harper sobbed uncontrollably, begging Vincent to send someone to save her mother at the nursing home.
Vincent pulled out his satellite phone and made a single, commanding phone call.
He ordered his deadliest men to secure the medical facility immediately.
Ten agonizing minutes later, he received a photograph confirming her mother was safe and surrounded by his armed guards.
Harper collapsed back into the plush leather seat, completely drained of all adrenaline and hope.
They drove for an hour until they arrived at a massive, heavily fortified estate outside the city limits.
Vincent led her past dozens of armed guards into a luxurious, mahogany-lined library.
He poured her a glass of expensive scotch and placed it gently into her shaking hands.
He told her that she would live inside this house until the Marcano family was entirely wiped off the map.
Harper stubbornly refused, saying she had to go back to work to pay her mounting debts.
Vincent walked over to a wall safe, unlocked it, and pulled out a thick stack of legal documents.
He threw the papers onto the desk in front of her.
He told her she no longer had any bills to pay in this lifetime.
He had purchased the Brass Rail, paid off her mother's entire medical debt, and bought the deed to her apartment building.
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Harper stared at the papers in absolute horror as she realized she was no longer just a target.
She was now his permanent prisoner.
