Chapter 1 - The Shattered Glass
Clara had just set the tall glass of pink ice cream and whipped cream on the table. Leo’s eyes lit up, his small hands reaching for the cold glass.
Gabriel hadn't even reached for his wallet when the heavy diner doors imploded.
It didn't sound like in the movies. It was a deafening, chaotic roar. The front windows disintegrated into a lethal wave of flying glass. The jukebox sparked and died in a screech of twisting metal.
“Down!” Gabriel roared, flipping the heavy metal table with one massive hand.
But Leo was entirely deaf. He couldn't hear the gunfire. He only saw the glass shattering, freezing in pure confusion as a bullet ripped through the vinyl booth inches from his head.
Clara didn't think. Instinct, forged by years of protecting her late younger brother, took over. She threw herself across the booth, wrapping her body entirely over Leo’s just as a second volley of automatic gunfire tore through the diner.
A searing, white-hot agony punched through her left shoulder.
Clara gasped, the breath knocked from her lungs. Beneath her, Leo was trembling, crying silently. She pressed a bloodstained hand to the back of his head, holding him down.
Above them, Gabriel Costa became a demon. He drew a heavy Glock from his coat, returning fire with terrifying, mechanical precision. His two bodyguards engaged, the sound of returned fire shaking the floorboards.
“Clear the street!” Gabriel bellowed, vaulting over the flipped table. He dropped to his knees beside Clara. His hands, usually instruments of extortion and violence, were shaking as he pulled her gently off his son.
Clara looked up at him, her vision swimming. The pale pink uniform was soaked in dark, spreading crimson.
“Leo,” she choked out, her fingers weakly signing the letter ‘L’ against her chest. “Is he…”
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“He’s safe,” Gabriel said, his voice a frantic, rough rasp. He scooped Leo up in one arm and pressed his other hand hard against Clara’s bleeding shoulder. “Stay with me, waitress. You don't get to die today. That’s an order.”
That was the last thing Clara heard before the darkness swallowed her whole.
