Chapter 14 - THE PRICE OF SURVIVAL
Toby’s thumb hovered over the red button on the detonator with terrifying casualness. "Drop the piece, Elena, or the entire block goes up in a secondary blast," he sneered, taking a step forward. My mind raced through a thousand tactical scenarios in a fraction of a second. If I fired, he might twitch and trigger the charge. If I dropped the gun, we were at his mercy. Behind me, Lily’s bedroom door clicked open an inch, and a sleepy little voice whispered, "Mommy?" Panic surged through my veins, but maternal instinct was faster. Instead of aiming for his chest, I dropped into a combat crouch and fired straight through Toby’s right shoulder. The gunshot deafened the hallway in the enclosed space. Toby screamed in agony, dropping the detonator as he crashed backward into the drywall. I lunged forward, kicking the device across the floor and pressing the barrel of my gun firmly against his temple. "Try blinking," I whispered, my teeth bared, "and I'll scatter your brains across this hallway before you hit the ground."
