Chapter 6 - The Hitman
A week passed, and the trial preparations were moving at lightning speed.
James was denied bail, sitting in a maximum-security cell.
I had moved out of the motel and rented a secure apartment in a high-rise building.
Laura was staying with me, as we were both key witnesses.
It was past midnight when the fire alarm in the building suddenly blared.
The strobe lights flashed, pulling me from a restless sleep.
“Grab your coat!” I yelled to Laura, throwing on my shoes.
We rushed into the hallway, joining the stream of sleepy neighbors heading for the stairs.
As we reached the fourth-floor landing, the crowd thinned out.
Suddenly, a man in a dark maintenance uniform stepped out from the utility closet.
He wasn't holding a fire extinguisher; he was holding a silenced pistol.
“Rachel,” he said quietly, raising the weapon.
Instinct took over.
I shoved Laura down the stairs and threw my heavy metal flashlight directly at his face.
It struck him hard in the nose, making him stumble and fire a shot into the ceiling.
The loud phut sound echoed in the stairwell.
I didn't wait to see if he recovered.
I scrambled down the concrete steps, grabbing Laura’s arm and dragging her with me.
We burst through the lobby doors and ran directly toward a parked police cruiser.
Officers swarmed the building, but the man had already vanished into the night.
The fire alarm had been manually pulled; there was no fire.
It was an orchestrated hit.
James had used his cartel connections from inside the prison to silence us.
“He won't stop,” Laura trembled as we sat in the back of the police car.
May you like
“He has nothing left to lose,” I agreed, staring at my shaking hands.
“We have to finish this in the courtroom.”
