Chapter 9
The two security guards lunged forward in unison. Ryan reacted with instantaneous fury, throwing his heavy briefcase directly into the path of the first guard, catching him squarely in the chest and sending him crashing backward over a low cocktail table.
The second guard managed to sidestep the tumbling furniture, lunging past Ryan to grab Clara by the wrist. She cried out as her phone slipped from her fingers, clattering across the polished marble floor toward the dark shadows beneath the bar.
"Clara!" Julian shouted, abandoning his cautious stance. With a burst of adrenaline born from pure desperation, Julian threw himself at the second guard, tackling him hard against the wooden paneling of the bar. The heavy ceramic liquor bottles rattled on their shelves, and with a muffled groan, the guard slumped to the floor under Julian's sustained weight.
Richard didn't flinch. He reached inside his black overcoat with chilling calm, his fingers wrapping around the grip of a compact, silenced firearm.
Ryan saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. Disregarding his own safety, he launched himself across the floor toward his uncle, slamming his shoulder directly into Richard’s chest just as the gun cleared the holster. The weapon discharged with a muffled, explosive thud, sending a stray bullet splintering harmlessly into the wooden ceiling beams above.
The two brothers grappled fiercely on the floor, tumbling against the edge of the leather booth. Marcus lunged toward the floor to retrieve Clara’s phone, desperate to cut the live stream before the data packet could transmit.
Clara didn't hesitate. Though her wrist throbbed from the guard's grip, she dropped to her knees, scrambling across the marble tiles toward the sliding service doors behind the bar. Her dark evening dress tore slightly at the hem, but she ignored the pain, reaching the service exit just as Marcus's fingers grazed the edge of her phone.
With a frantic lunge, Clara grabbed her smartphone from the floor. The screen flashed brightly in her hand: Upload Complete: 100%.
Marcus cursed loudly, diving toward her, but the heavy service door swung open from the outside, flooding the dimly lit back hallway with the cool, bright light of the hotel's loading dock.
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Standing in the doorway, framed by the flashing blue and red lights of three arriving police cruisers, were two uniformed city patrol officers with their service weapons drawn.
"Police! Nobody move!" the lead officer shouted, his voice echoing sharply off the concrete walls.
