Chapter 3 - The Broken Glass
Clara walked across the hardwood floor with deliberate, measured steps. The beam of her flashlight aimed squarely at the closet door. "Lily?" she asked, dropping back into that deceptively sweet cadence. "Sweetheart, are you playing hide-and-seek? It’s not safe tonight. Come out to Clara."
Through the earpiece, Marcus's voice cracked with raw, suffocating urgency. "Lily, drop to the floor. Now!"
Lily instinctively dropped flat onto her stomach. A deafening roar shattered the bedroom air. The brute, Roman, hadn't waited for Clara to check; he had raised a suppressed submachine gun and pumped three rounds through the closet panels. Splinters of polished mahogany exploded inward, showering Lily’s back and hair. One bullet buried itself into the drywall an inch above her ear, singing her blonde locks with burning powder.
"Are you insane?!" Clara shrieked, shoving Roman back. "I told you she needs to be undamaged! They deduct fifty percent for visible trauma!"
"She's quiet now, isn't she?" Roman grunted, reaching down and ripping the shattered closet door completely off its brass hinges.
Lily looked up into the darkness, locking eyes with the masked intruder. Behind him, the panoramic glass doors leading out to the balcony reflected the wild storm outside. Thunder shook the skyscraper with violent ferocity.
Before Roman could bend down to seize her, Lily scrambled backward like a crab, kicking a heavy wooden shoe rack directly into his shins. He stumbled back with a curse, swinging his arm outward. His heavy forearm struck Lily across the shoulder, spinning her toward the open sliding glass door.
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The gale-force rain slammed into her face instantly. She tumbled out onto the wet balcony tiles, eight hundred feet above the city streets. Roman stepped out behind her, rain instantly soaking his black tactical vest. Lily backed away until her spine hit the reinforced glass balustrade.
Below, sirens were already wailing in the distance, but the storm drowned them out. Roman smiled beneath his mask, raising a roll of heavy zip-ties. "End of the line, little bird."
