Chapter 10 - Glass and Fire
""Down!"" the agent shouted, tackling Clara to the carpet just as a high-caliber round shattered the reinforced office window.
The supersonic crack of the bullet blew through the drywall where Clara had been standing a microsecond before. Shards of glass rained over the Persian rug, twinkling in the sudden darkness like deadly confetti.
""Evacuation protocol, now!"" the second agent yelled into his radio, pulling his weapon and returning blind fire through the shattered window frame toward the adjacent rooftop.
Clara crawled on her elbows across the debris-littered floor, glass slicing into her palms, but she barely registered the pain. She reached the safety of the heavy mahogany desk, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
Across the room, Evelyn was screaming hysterically, curled in a ball beneath the window sill. ""They're here! They promised they’d wait until the transfer cleared! Julian, where are you?!""
""Shut up, Evelyn!"" Clara hissed, pulling the older woman by the hem of her jacket toward the inner hallway. ""If you want to live through the next five minutes, you crawl toward that service door!""
The emergency sirens inside the skyscraper began to howl, flashing harsh amber strobes across the walls. The air grew thick with acrid smoke from the ground-floor explosion. The syndicate wasn't just assassinating targets; they were burning the entire corporate infrastructure to the ground to ensure no records could be subpoenaed.
The lead agent pushed the heavy steel service door open, signaling for them to move. ""Stairs! The elevators are offline due to the fire protocol! Move, move, move!""
They spilled into the concrete stairwell, the echoes of descending footsteps ringing below them. Forty floors of stairs. Clara supported Evelyn, whose designer heels had long been discarded, the older woman sobbing in uncharacteristic terror as they navigated the narrow steps.
""My father,"" Clara said between breaths, gripping Evelyn’s shoulder hard as they rushed downward. ""The maritime land deed... that wasn't for Julian’s company, was it? It was for them. The syndicate.""
Evelyn swallowed hard, her voice trembling. ""Your father... he refused to sell to them twenty years ago. When he died, we were instructed to marry Julian to you to acquire the port access without a legal battle. If we failed... if the land wasn't transferred by midnight tonight... they were going to execute our entire family.""
Clara stopped on the landing of the 35th floor, her stomach turning to lead. ""So Julian’s abuse... the divorce threats... you were setting me up to take the bullet meant for you.""
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Before Evelyn could answer, the door to the 35th floor kicked open with a thunderous crash.
Framed in the doorway stood Marcus, a suppressed tactical pistol leveled directly at Clara’s face.
