Chapter 9 - Blood on the Granite
A bloodcurdling scream tore through Vanessa’s lips as she stumbled backward, clutching her bleeding arm against her coat. The sudden eruption of violence shattered the room's tense standoff.
Miller instinctively swung his weapon toward Elena, but Cole moved with explosive desperation. He lunged forward, tackling Miller around the waist and driving the armed man into the glass dining table. The surface shattered with a deafening crash, shards spraying across the room.
""Run, Elena!"" Cole roared, wrestling with Miller’s gun hand on the floor amid the broken glass.
Elena didn't run. She scrambled across the slick tiles, grabbing the heavy brass table lamp from the side console. Miller managed to raise the weapon, pointing it point-blank at Cole’s ribs. Elena brought the solid brass base down onto the back of Miller's skull with every ounce of strength in her body.
The man collapsed instantly, his gun clattering across the floorboards into the kitchen.
Vanessa, clutching her bloody arm and gasping in agony, backed toward the open apartment door. ""You think you won?"" she hissed through clenched teeth. ""The car downstairs... the driver has orders. If Miller doesn't check in every five minutes, they execute your brother.""
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She turned and fled down the stairwell, her frantic footsteps echoing through the building.
Cole pushed himself up from the glass, his hands sliced open and bleeding, breathing raggedly. He locked eyes with Elena. ""We have three minutes.""
