Chapter 4 - A Fall from Grace
The freezing wind off the river whipped between them, carrying the smell of salt, rust, and approaching rain. Elena kept her eyes locked on Victor’s face. He had driven her to board meetings, fetched her coffee, and smiled at her for five years, yet here he stood, cold-blooded and ready to eliminate her on Kevin’s command.
"Did he pay you enough to commit murder, Victor?" Elena asked, keeping her voice level, letting her fingers tighten around the heavy steel cylinder behind her back. "Because Kevin doesn't pay loose ends. Once I'm gone, you become the only person who can put him in prison. Ask yourself how long you'll last."
Victor’s eyes flickered, just a fraction of a second of doubt, but his grip on the weapon didn't waver. "You don't understand the board, ma'am. Mr. Sterling isn't acting alone. The entire executive committee signed off on this. You're an obstacle to the merger."
"The merger with Vanguard?" Elena laughed bitterly. "Vanguard is an empty shell company designed to strip our manufacturing plants and liquidate three thousand jobs. I built this company to produce medical prosthetics, not to be broken down for junk bonds."
"Drop the cylinder and step toward the railing," Victor commanded, stepping forward. "He said you leave tonight. One way or another."
Elena glanced down at the churning black water seventy feet below. She was cornered. Her ribs were screaming in pain, her body bruised and battered from Kevin’s earlier assault. She couldn't outrun a bullet.
"Fine," Elena said softly. She swung her arm forward as if tossing the heavy steel cylinder straight into the rushing black river below.
"No!" Victor instinctively lunged forward to grab it before it disappeared over the edge.
May you like
It was a bluff. Elena hadn't thrown the key; she had thrown her heavy brass compact mirror. As Victor surged forward off-balance, Elena drove the heavy steel cylinder straight into the bridge of his nose.
The impact crunched sickeningly. Victor stumbled back with a strangled cry, his pistol firing harmlessly into the wooden planks. Elena scrambled past him, but Victor swung out wildly, his heavy arm catching her across the shoulder. The force sent her spinning toward the rusted railing. The old barrier gave way with a screech of rusted bolts, and Elena tumbled into the freezing void below.
