flash

Chapter 4 - The Midnight IntruderThe digital clock on my microwave glowed 3:14 AM. The storm lashing against my apartment windows rattled the glass, but it wasn't the wind that woke me up. It was the distinct, metallic click of a lock being picked.

I slid silently out of bed, my heart hammering against my ribs. Grasping a heavy brass candlestick from the bedside table, I pressed my back against the wall of the hallway.

A shadowy figure crept into my bedroom, moving with lethal precision. The intruder swept the bedsheets back with a knife, realizing instantly that the bed was empty.

"I know you're here, old lady," a rasps voice muttered in the dark. It was one of Victoria’s private security guards. "Hand over the flash drive from the box, and make it quick."

Instead of retreating, I stepped out from the shadows behind him. Before he could turn around, I brought the heavy brass candlestick down against the back of his knee with every ounce of adrenaline-fueled fury I possessed. The man let out a sharp cry of pain, collapsing hard onto the floorboards.

Before he could recover, I kicked the knife away, pinned his arm behind his back with my knee—utilizing leverage I learned from decades of subduing violent psychiatric patients—and pressed the heavy metal edge of the candlestick against his throat.

"Who sent you?" I demanded, my voice icy and commanding. "Victoria? Or someone higher up in the syndicate?"

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The man gritted his teeth, sneering up at me. "You think you're safe because you have Thomas’s money? The syndicate doesn't care about corporate law, lady. They bury people like you in concrete before breakfast."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not a normal old lady," I whispered, pressing down just enough to make him gasp for air. "Tell Victoria her move failed. Now get out of my house before I finish what Thomas started."

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