Chapter 14 - Shattered Illusions
Chaos erupted instantly. Sirens blared as guests screamed and trampled over each other toward the exits.
"Kill her!" Victor roared, drawing his weapon.
I ducked beneath a mahogany table as gunfire shattered glass chandeliers, sending sparkling shards raining down like ice. I pulled the twin blades from my dress hem, swept the legs out from under Victor’s lead bodyguard, and used his body as a shield against incoming fire.
Chloe screamed in terror as federal agents—who had been monitoring the broadcast—breached the glass skylights overhead, rappelling down on tactical ropes.
"Federal agents! On the ground!"
In the blinding smoke and gunfire, Victor grabbed Chloe as a human shield and ran toward the private elevator heading down to the vaults. Richard stood frozen in panic, trembling behind a overturned couch.
"Richard! Help me!" Chloe shrieked as Victor dragged her away.
Richard looked at Chloe, then at me. For the first time in five years, he realized the monster he had tied himself to. But he was too weak to act. He collapsed to his knees as federal agents swarmed him, clapping cuffs onto his wrists.
May you like
I didn't care about Richard or Chloe anymore. My only focus was the sub-basement.
I vaulted over the security desk, slid into the elevator shaft, and slid down the steel cables toward the basement levels. Time was running out: six minutes until the bomb detonated.
