Chapter 7 - THE TRAIN TICKET
The five-pound math textbook fell thirty feet through the dark air like a brick.
It struck Victor squarely on the top of his skull with a sickening crack.
Victor cried out in shock and pain, his knees buckling as he stumbled forward. The gun slipped from his grip, clattering across the wet concrete floor.
"What the hell?!" Celeste shrieked, looking up into the darkness of the catwalks.
Lorenzo didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second.
He lunged forward, closing the thirty-foot gap with terrifying speed. He tackled Victor to the ground before the accountant could recover his weapon. The two men crashed into a stack of wooden shipping crates, splintering them into pieces.
Celeste panicked. She raised her thumb to press the red button on the detonator.
But a small, sharp piece of metal suddenly struck her hand from above.
Mia had thrown the heavy brass key. It hit Celeste's knuckles perfectly, causing her to flinch.
The detonator slipped from her grasp and bounced onto the concrete floor, sliding several feet away.
Mia didn't stay on the catwalk. She scrambled down the rusted iron ladder as fast as she could, her small hands slipping on the wet metal.
She hit the floor running.
"Mom!" Mia cried, sprinting toward the chair.
Rachel was weeping, her frail chest heaving. "Mia! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be safe!"
Mia didn't answer. She pulled a small, jagged steak knife from her pocket—stolen from the hospital cafeteria tray—and frantically began sawing at the thick nylon ropes binding her mother's wrists.
"I'm not leaving you," Mia gritted her teeth, sawing desperately. "I promised Dad I'd take care of you."
Rachel sobbed, leaning her head against her daughter.
From the shadows, Victor managed to kick Lorenzo off him. He scrambled across the floor, diving for his dropped pistol. His fingers closed around the grip.
He spun around, aiming the gun not at Lorenzo, but directly at Mia.
"Stop right there!" Victor screamed, his face covered in blood from the textbook impact.
Mia froze. The knife slipped from her hands. She stood protectively in front of her mother, spreading her small arms wide.
Victor sneered, wiping the blood from his eyes. "How poetic. I get to kill Thomas's entire bloodline in one night."
"Victor, drop it!" Lorenzo roared, rising to his feet. He had drawn his own weapon, but Victor had the clear shot on the girl.
Lorenzo slowly lowered his gun, placing it on the concrete floor. He raised his hands.
"Let the kid go, Victor," Lorenzo pleaded, his voice breaking. The ruthless boss was completely surrendered. "She's ten years old. She has nothing to do with this."
"She knows too much," Victor smiled cruelly, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Mia didn't close her eyes. She stared right down the barrel of the gun.
She reached into the pocket of her oversized uniform and pulled out a faded, yellowed piece of paper. It was an old Amtrak train ticket to California.
"My dad bought this for us the day before you killed him," Mia said, her voice echoing clearly through the massive warehouse. She held it up like a shield. "He was going to take us to see the ocean. You stole that from us."
Victor laughed. "And now I'm stealing the rest of it."
He squeezed the trigger.
A gunshot rang out, echoing like thunder in the cavernous space.
Mia flinched.
But she didn't fall.
Victor's eyes widened in sudden, profound shock. The gun slipped from his hand, discharging a bullet harmlessly into the ceiling.
He looked down at his chest. A massive red stain was spreading across his grey suit.
Victor collapsed onto his knees, and then pitched forward onto the concrete, dead.
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Standing in the massive loading doorway, rain pouring off his broad shoulders, was Silas. The giant bodyguard slowly lowered a smoking sniper rifle.
"Nobody threatens my boss's family," Silas rumbled, racking a fresh round into the chamber.
