Chapter 17 - Rooftop Reckoning
The wind on the roof of the abandoned construction tower was fierce, carrying the bitter chill of late October. The sniper, realizing he was boxed in from both stairwells, scrambled toward the ledge to deploy an emergency escape zipline.
As he swung his leg over the concrete parapet, a cold, elegant voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Leaving so soon?"
The sniper whirled around, his pistol raised, but stopped short. Elena stood by the doorway, her trench coat billowing in the wind, holding her firearm with absolute, unwavering precision aimed directly between his eyes.
"You're... you're supposed to be dead," the man snarled, his scarred face twisting in rage. "The Holloway syndicate owns half of Europe. You can't kill what's institutional."
"My husband thought he was an institution, too," Elena replied softly. "Look where he is."
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With lightning-fast reflexes, the sniper fired, but Elena had already anticipated the twitch of his wrist. A single, perfectly placed shot from her weapon shattered the mechanism of his escape zipline and pierced his shoulder, sending him crashing hard onto the concrete roof.
Agent Vance and a tactical team burst through the rooftop door a second later, subduing the bleeding assassin instantly.
