Chapter 4 - The Empty Hallway
I cursed under my breath.
I told Allie to stay in the panic room and keep the child quiet.
I stepped back out into the blood-stained corridor.
I retraced Allie’s exact path from the staff quarters to my office.
I searched the edges of the carpet and the spaces beneath the antique console tables.
There was absolutely nothing on the floor.
The encrypted ledger was gone.
My heart hammered a violent rhythm against my ribs.
If one of the fleeing assassins had picked it up, Lorenzo would have all his blackmail material restored.
But if the assassins had found it, they would not have demanded the child from the foyer.
Someone else had picked it up during the chaos.
I pulled out my phone and dialed my head of security, Enzo.
Enzo answered on the first ring, his voice tight with adrenaline.
He asked if I was safe and reported that his men were securing the perimeter.
I asked Enzo exactly where he had been when the front doors were breached.
He claimed he was in the security control room rebooting the camera network.
That was a very convenient excuse for the cameras to be blind during an assassination attempt.
I told Enzo to meet me in the main library immediately.
I walked to the library and waited in the darkness.
Enzo arrived a few minutes later, holding a tactical shotgun.
I asked him if he had seen anything unusual on the second floor.
Enzo shook his head and said the floor was completely clear.
I looked down at his left hand.
May you like
His knuckles were tightly clenched around a small, black rectangular object.
I raised my pistol and aimed it directly between my best friend's eyes.
