Chapter 13 - THE FINAL GAMBITI burst through the corridor doors just as the private elevator chimed, its doors sliding open.
Vanessa ducked inside and frantically slammed her finger against the "Door Close" button.
“Stop, Vanessa!” I yelled, sprinting down the hallway.
She locked eyes with me through the narrowing gap of the sliding steel doors. A cruel, triumphant smirk flickered across her face as she raised her right hand—she was holding a small, silver .22 caliber pistol she had retrieved from Harrison’s desk.
She fired once through the closing gap.
BANG!
The bullet shattered the plaster wall inches from my left ear, showering me with white dust. I threw myself onto the marble floor, rolling as the elevator doors clicked shut and the floor indicator began to count down: 3... 2... 1... B1.
She was heading for the underground parking garage!
Ignoring the searing pain in my knees, I scrambled back to my feet and threw myself into the emergency stairs, sprinting down three flights of concrete steps two at a time. My heart pounded like a jackhammer in my chest, but the image of Sarah’s smile and Lily’s tearful face pushed me beyond my physical limits.
I burst through the heavy fire door into the subterranean parking garage just as the private elevator doors hissed open across the dimly lit concrete expanse.
Vanessa ran out into the garage, clutching her briefcase in one hand and her gun in the other, heading toward a silver Mercedes sedan parked near the exit ramp.
“It’s over, Vanessa!” my voice echoed off the concrete pillars.
She spun around and fired two wild shots.
BANG! BANG!
One bullet ricocheted harmlessly off a steel pillar; the second shattered the windshield of a parked van beside me.
I took cover behind a concrete pillar, breathing heavily, aligning my sight picture with the front tire of her Mercedes.
“You can’t run anymore!” I shouted. “The police are outside!”
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“I will never go to prison!” she screamed, her voice echoing wildly through the underground garage. She reached the driver’s side door and jammed the key fob into the lock. “I took Julian’s fortune, I took Sarah’s life, and I almost took your granddaughter! You lost, old man!”
She aimed her gun directly at my pillar, preparing to fire another round to pin me down while she started the car.
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