Chapter 8 - The Breach
The door swung back, slamming against Cole’s forehead and sending him crashing hard onto the parquet floor. A tall man in a dark trench coat and leather gloves stepped into the apartment behind Vanessa, holding a silenced semi-automatic handgun pointed directly at Elena’s chest.
""You took too long,"" the man said in a flat, gravelly tone.
Vanessa stepped over Cole’s groaning form, shaking the rain off her sleeves as though entering a private club. ""Pick him up, Miller,"" she commanded. ""We don't need dead bodies in the hallway.""
Miller reached down with one gloved hand, hauling Cole up by his collar and shoving him against the wall. Cole groaned, blood trailing from a deep cut above his eyebrow, his eyes struggling to focus on Elena.
""The drive, Elena,"" Vanessa said, extending her palm. ""Give it to me, and Miller brings your brother up to the lobby.""
Elena kept the knife lowered at her side, her thumb pressed against the plastic casing of the thumb drive. ""How do I know he's alive? Put him on speaker.""
Vanessa smiled, a cold, clinical gesture. ""You're in no position to negotiate terms."" She nodded toward Miller. The large man shifted his aim from Elena to Cole, pressing the cold muzzle of the suppressor right against Cole’s temple.
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""Give her the drive, Elena,"" Cole wheezed, blood dripping from his chin onto his white shirt. ""Don't let them hurt Leo. Just give it to them.""
Elena stepped forward, her hand extending the drive toward Vanessa’s outstretched fingers. Just as Vanessa’s nails brushed the plastic, Elena pulled her arm back and drove the chef’s knife down through Vanessa’s forearm.
