The rain began to fall in sharp, stinging needles, turning the gray asphalt of Broad Street into a mirror of neon signs and flashing police cruisers. Daniel Hayes slammed his luxury sedan into park, the tires screeching against the curb with a violence that matched the storm inside his chest. He didn't care about the onlookers, the staring pedestrians, or the uniforms gathering by the corner. All he saw was Maya.

Clang!

The heavy bolt cutters snapped the main chain of the iron gates, and the massive doors swung inward with a groaning screech. Victoria stepped through the threshold first, a manic, unhinged grin distorting her features. She held a detonator in her right hand, its small red LED light blinking ominously in the dark.

"Surprise, Daniel!" Victoria shrieked over the howling wind, her voice dripping with venom. "Did you really think a federal prison could hold me? You took everything I built! You threw me away for a homeless street rat!"

Daniel stopped ten paces away, his weapon locked dead-center on her chest. His finger rested lightly on the trigger. "You should have stayed in prison, Victoria. Stepping foot on my property is a death sentence."

"Oh, I'm not here to negotiate," Victoria laughed hysterically, pressing her thumb against the blinking detonator. "If I don't get to rule this empire, then no one does! The entire perimeter is rigged with C4. One click, and this entire estate—you, your precious brat kids, and your new little queen—goes up in smoke!"

Before Victoria could press the trigger completely down, a sudden, sharp crack echoed through the courtyard.

Bang.

It wasn't Daniel's gun.

From the second-story balcony overhead, Maya stood tall and steady, holding one of Daniel's long-range hunting rifles with expert precision. The bullet struck the heavy mercenary standing behind Victoria squarely in the shoulder, sending him crashing backward into the mud with a howl of pain.