Chapter 6 - The Red Dot
""Down!"" Deputy Marshal Miller roared.
Before Clara could even register the crimson laser dancing across the black silk covering her heart, Miller lunged up the steps of the bench, tackling her sideways. The two crashed behind the thick oak desk just as a high-powered rifle bullet shattered the heavy stained-glass window.
The sound of shattering lead and colored glass was deafening. Glass shards rained down like jagged rain, embedding into the wooden bench and shredding the heavy velvet curtains behind it. A deafening high-caliber crack echoed off the concrete plaza outside a second later.
""Active shooter! Active shooter! Code Red!"" the bailiff screamed into his lapel radio, his voice frantic.
Eleanor dove beneath the defense table, shielding her head with her hands, screaming hysterically. Julian crawled on his elbows and knees toward the corner, his pristine suit tearing on the glass-strewn floor.
Behind the heavy oak desk, Clara lay flat on her stomach, Miller’s bulk shielding her. Dust and powdered plaster coated her dark hair. Her cheek scraped against the wood, reopening the cut on her lip. A warm trickle of blood rolled down into her chin, but her eyes were wide, cold, and calculating.
""Sniper from the Bell Tower across the plaza,"" Miller gasped, drawing his service weapon. ""Stay low, Judge! Don't move!""
""Miller,"" Clara said, her voice surprisingly steady, though her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. ""The emergency lockdown switch is beneath the clerk’s desk. Can you reach it?""
""Too exposed,"" Miller grunted, peering cautiously over the rim of the desk. Another shot punched through the high wood paneling directly above them, showering their backs with splintered oak. ""He's using thermal imaging or tracking movement. If anyone stands, they're dead.""
Clara reached out, her fingers finding the thick gray case dossier that had fallen off the bench onto the floor beside her. She pulled it closer. Inside the back flap was a set of schematics—the 19th-century architectural blueprints of the historic courthouse.
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""There's a maintenance tunnel behind the judicial chambers,"" Clara whispered to the marshal. ""It leads directly to the subterranean parking garage. But the secondary door can only be unlocked from inside the courtroom.""
Cliffhanger: Across the floor, Julian suddenly cried out in agonizing pain as a ricocheting bullet fragment grazed his thigh, leaving him writhing in the open aisle.
