Chapter 5 - THE BULLET AND THE BRACELET
Glass shards rained down like glittering diamonds.
Dominic rolled across the floor, returning fire with calculated precision.
Two masked intruders dropped instantly near the shattered double doors.
Viktor dragged Dominic behind a reinforced concrete pillar.
“They’re professional mercenaries, Boss! Not local street muscle!”
“Richard Sterling,” Dominic snarled, reloading his magazine with practiced speed. “He’s cleaning house.”
“Where are your brother and Vanessa?”
“Gone.”
Dominic scanned the courtyard through the smoke.
Sirens wailed in the distance—local police responding to the explosion.
But Dominic knew the police couldn't touch men like Richard Sterling without ironclad proof.
Proof that was currently resting inside the subterranean vault.
“Secure the perimeter, Viktor. Find Hannah.”
“The maid?” Viktor frowned. “She’s just a kid, Boss.”
“She’s Margaret Vale’s daughter. They’ll target her next.”
Viktor’s eyes widened.
“Understood.”
Dominic sprinted toward the west wing, his boots crunching on broken glass.
He burst into Elena’s old room.
Empty.
He checked the adjoining bathroom.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a glint of metal on the Persian rug.
He knelt down.
It was a diamond tennis bracelet.
Vanessa’s bracelet.
And beside it lay a small silver charm shaped like a gardenia flower.
Blood smeared across the golden petal.
Dominic’s heart hammered against his ribs.
They hadn't just fled; they had taken a hostage.
He rushed out into the corridor just as Hannah’s muffled scream echoed from the service stairwell.
“Hannah!”
Dominic tore down the stairs three at a time.
The heavy metal fire door at the bottom was swinging shut.
He slammed his shoulder into it, bursting out into the underground parking garage.
A black armored SUV was screeching out of its parking stall tires smoking against the concrete.
In the back seat window, a terrified face pressed against the glass.
Hannah.
Her mouth was taped shut.
Adrian sat beside her, holding a knife to her throat.
Dominic raised his pistol, aiming for the rear tire.
*Bang.*
The bullet struck dead center.
The tire exploded in a shower of sparks.
The SUV swerved violently, smashing into a concrete pillar with a sickening crunch.
The front hood crumpled like paper.
May you like
Smoke hissed from the engine block.
Dominic sprinted toward the wreckage, his weapon raised, ready for the final confrontation.
