Chapter 12 - The Fall of Victoria
Victoria hung suspended over a five-hundred-foot drop, her knuckles turning white against the aluminum rail. The city below was a blurred mosaic of concrete and flashing traffic lights.
""Julian! Clara! Help me!"" she shrieked, terror stripping away every shred of malice. ""Please! I'm your sister! Clara, we shared a womb!""
Julian leaned over the rail, his grip poised, but he paused, looking at his wife. The choice belonged to Clara.
Clara looked down through the rain at the woman who had stolen her identity, drugged her mind, and attempted to abduct her child. Clara reached out, gripping Victoria’s slick wrist with both hands.
""I won't let you die,"" Clara said between clenched teeth, straining against the deadweight. ""Because death is too easy for you. You are going to sit in a federal penitentiary for the rest of your natural life.""
Julian grabbed Victoria’s other arm, his muscles bunching as he prepared to heave her over the ledge.
Suddenly, a red laser sight danced across Julian's chest.
""Down!"" Julian yelled, pulling Clara backward onto the balcony floor.
A high-caliber sniper round cracked from an adjacent skyscraper rooftop, shattering the aluminum rail where Victoria was hanging. The bullet severed Victoria’s fingers.
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With a choked gasp of horror, Victoria lost her grip. Her body plummeted into the rain-soaked void, disappearing into the fog below before she could even utter another scream.
Julian pulled Clara tightly against his chest, rolling them behind the thick concrete parapet as two more sniper rounds blew chunks of stone out of the wall above their heads. Victoria hadn't been the mastermind. Someone was actively silencing everyone involved.
