THE SHADOW IN THE TRUST

Julian didn't shoot to kill; he dove to the floor, firing three rapid rounds straight through the thin wood of Sarah's desk.

The 9mm rounds shattered the oak panels, striking the computer terminal and tearing through Elena’s lower leg. She shrieked in pain, her suppressed pistol discharging wildly into the ceiling, showering the room with plaster and dust. The black transmitter slipped from her bloody fingers, rolling across the rug toward the doorway.

Henrik Weber lunged for the dropped transmitter from his position on the floor.

"NO!" Julian roared.

Julian threw himself across the room, tackling Weber with the full force of his body. The two men crashed into the heavy glass display case along the wall, sending dozens of antique crystal vases crashing down around them in a deafening cascade of shattered glass.

Weber drove his thumb into Julian’s eye socket, but Julian didn't retreat. He grabbed a jagged piece of broken crystal from the floor and drove it deep into Weber’s thigh. Weber let out a blood-curdling scream, his grip loosening as he collapsed backward onto the sharp shards.

Julian scrambled across the floor on his hands and knees, his hands bleeding from the glass, his eyes fixed on the blue light blinking on the dropped transmitter.

Elena was crawling toward it from the other side of the room, leaving a thick trail of blood against Sarah's rug. Her hand reached out, her fingers inches away from the blue button.

"Julian..." a tiny voice squeaked from the shattered doorway.

Julian looked up. Standing in the hallway, holding a small plush bear, was Noah. He had unlocked his door using the emergency foot-latch his father had taught him to use during fire drills. His light blue button-up shirt was rumpled, his face pale with terror as he looked at the blood, the shattered glass, and his father on the floor.

"Noah! RUN!" Julian screamed.