Chapter 13 - The Door That Stayed Open
Sarah looked at the gun.
Then at Emily.
Her daughter was shaking so hard the chair legs tapped against the floor.
“Okay,” Sarah said.
She raised her hands.
“I’ll tell them.”
Carlo tilted his head.
“Tell who?”
His eyes dropped to her sweater.
Sarah stopped breathing.
He stepped closer.
Vincent moved.
“Carlo.”
“Stay where you are.”
“You wanted the originals. The girl doesn’t know anything. Sarah doesn’t run the company.”
“She knows enough now.”
“You wanted a deal.”
Carlo laughed.
“You were always so easy to lead.”
Daniel shifted beside the table.
The guard tightened his grip.
Daniel bent as if the pressure hurt him.
It did.
But his hand reached the power cord beneath the desk.
He pulled.
The hanging work lights went dark.
Sarah dropped.
A shot exploded overhead.
Vincent drove Carlo’s arm toward the ceiling.
Emily screamed.
Daniel overturned the table between his daughter and the guard.
“Down, Emily!”
Glass broke near the loading door.
Brooks’s team entered with shouted commands.
Sarah crawled toward the sound of her child.
“Emily. It’s Mom.”
“Here!”
She found her beneath the edge of the table.
Sarah pulled her against her chest and turned her own back toward the room.
Another shot sounded.
Then somebody fell hard.
“Hands where I can see them!”
Carlo shouted.
Vincent grunted.
A metal object slid across concrete.
An officer’s flashlight cut through the dark.
“Clear right!”
“Child here!” Sarah yelled.
Brooks reached them.
“Move with me.”
Sarah rose, holding Emily.
Daniel crawled out behind the table.
He tried to stand.
His leg folded.
Sarah stopped.
“I’ve got him,” an officer said.
“Go.”
Outside, cold air filled her lungs.
Emily clung to her neck.
Alive.
Daniel emerged between two officers.
Alive.
Sarah made a sound she had never heard from herself.
She reached him with one arm while holding their daughter with the other.
Daniel touched Emily’s hair.
Then his knees gave out.
Paramedics caught him.
Vincent came through the loading door last, blood spreading down his sleeve.
Brooks held Carlo in handcuffs.
For one second, Sarah thought the worst was over.
Then she saw another officer approach Vincent.
“Turn around, Mr. Romano.”
May you like
Emily lifted her head.
“Mom. Why are they taking him too?”
