Chapter 25 - Pursuit in the Fog
The pine needles beneath my boots were slick with morning dew and mud as I tore through the dense thicket of the estate’s private forest. The fog was so thick it swallowed the beams of the security spotlights sweeping down from the manor roof, turning the woods into a ghostly labyrinth of shadows and towering trunks.
Up ahead, a dark figure crashed through the underbrush, snapping branches underfoot.
"Stop right there!" I shouted, raising my Sig Sauer and firing two warning shots into the dirt ahead of the fleeing runner.
The figure didn't stop. Instead, they cut hard to the left, diving behind a massive boulder near the edge of the cliff where the drop-off fell straight down into the crashing Atlantic waves.
I closed the distance in seconds, my boots sliding to a halt behind a thick pine tree just as a round chipped the bark inches from my ear.
"You're out of runway, whoever you are!" I yelled, keeping my eyes fixed on the shadow behind the boulder. "Drop the weapon and step out where I can see you!"
Silence answered me, save for the rhythmic crash of the waves against the rocks far below and the heavy, ragged breathing of the person hiding in the dark.
Then, a voice drifted out from behind the stone—a smooth, feminine voice that sent a sudden, chilling shockwave straight through my chest.
"You always were too fast on the trigger, Julian," the voice laughed softly. "Just like the night in Zurich."
My breath caught in my throat. The world around me seemed to stop spinning.
Zurich.
Twelve years ago. The police reports. The empty funeral.
May you like
The shadow stepped out from behind the boulder, pushing back the hood of a dark tactical cloak. The fog parted just enough to reveal sharp, striking features, dark amber eyes that mirrored my own, and a cold, familiar smile.
Elena.
