Chapter 9 - The Shattered Glass
The heavy lead bullet from Arthur’s revolver caught Victor in the right shoulder, the force of the impact spinning him backward into the glass wall of the manager's office.
The glass wall shattered into thousands of tiny, glittering crystals, raining down onto the blue carpet of the gym corridor.
Outside in the lobby, gym members shrieked in terror, dropping their weights, scrambling over ellipticals, and sprinting toward the emergency exits as the alarm system began to wail in a high-pitched, rhythmic screech.
Victor crashed onto his back among the broken glass, gasping for air, clutching his blood-stained shoulder, his pistol spinning across the floor until it struck Maya’s shoe.
Maya kicked the gun away, kneeling beside the fallen executive, pulling his leather belt off his trousers and binding his left wrist tightly to prevent him from reaching into his jacket again.
Arthur walked through the ruined glass frame, his polished leather shoes crunching over the crystal fragments.
He stood over Victor, looking down at the man who had ordered the hit on his daughter five years ago.
"The four hundred dollars wasn't a refund, Victor," Arthur said softly, his silver revolver still held loosely at his side. "It was the precise transaction fee required to trigger the federal warrant for your arrest."
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Red and blue emergency lights were already flashing through the double glass doors of the front entrance, painting the gym lobby in frantic, revolving streaks of light.
Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder with every passing second.
