Chapter 6 - The Bullet and the Blueprint
The gunshot cracked through the enclosed space like thunder, the muzzle flash illuminating the penthouse in a blinding strobe of white light. The heavy brass paperweight connected with a dull, heavy thud against the wall, missing its mark by mere inches. Glass from a shattered display case rained down like glittering diamonds across the white marble floor.
Marcus hit the floor rolling, his shoulder absorbing the brutal impact as he scrambled behind a heavy leather sofa. His breath burned in his lungs. Across the room, Julianne was completely silent, her earlier hysterics choked off by sheer terror.
"Impressive reflex, Marcus," David’s voice echoed smoothly from the shadows, accompanied by the slow, deliberate click of combat boots stepping closer. "But physics is a stubborn thing. You can't outrun a sniper in a closed box."
"You're insane, David," Marcus shouted back, pressing his palm flat against the floor to steady his breathing while his other hand quietly worked the emergency keycard against the baseboard security panel. "Embezzling the development funds was one thing, but murder? You think you can just walk away from this?"
"I'm not walking away, Marcus. I'm taking over," David replied, his footsteps pausing just a few feet from the sofa. "The board already signed off on the restructuring plan this morning. Once your signature is forged on the asset transfer forms—which Cali was kind enough to verify before her little accident—this entire corporation belongs to me. You and your wife are just unfortunate casualties of a botched home invasion."
Marcus’s thumb hit the override button on the panel. A soft, green chime pinged quietly beneath the ambient hum of the ventilation system. The heavy fire exit door at the end of the hall clicked open, its magnetic seal releasing with a mechanical sigh.
"You don't have my signature, David," Marcus said loudly, deliberately stalling to buy a few more seconds.
"I don't need it," David laughed coldly. "A fingerprint scanner works just as well on a corpse."
Before David could round the corner of the sofa, Marcus lunged upward, kicking the edge of a heavy oak coffee table directly into David’s shins with bone-crunching force. David roared in pain, his flashlight beam spinning wildly toward the ceiling as he stumbled backward.
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Marcus didn't wait to see him recover. He sprinted toward the glowing exit door, scooping up the unconscious Cali into his arms as he ran, but as he crossed the threshold into the stairwell, the heavy steel door slammed shut behind them with an automated lock that engaged instantly from the outside.
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