Chapter 4 - The Fall and the Catch
The wind tore at Camille’s hair as she clutched the heavy leather briefcase to her chest, standing firm beside Declan at the top of the stairwell exit.
"It's over, Richard," Camille shouted back, her voice ringing clear and steady against the storm. "The federal authorities already have copies of the secondary ledger. Wiping the server won't save you!"
Vance’s face contorted into a mask of pure desperation. "Liar! Give me the briefcase!" He lunged forward, gesturing frantically for his thugs to close in.
Declan moved with lightning speed, using the heavy metal doorframe as cover as he fired three precise warning shots into the control box of the satellite link. Sparks showered across the wet concrete, short-circuiting the uplink and blinding the hackers' tablets in a flash of smoke.
"Get him!" Vance shrieked.
The two thugs rushed forward, but Declan intercepted them with lethal efficiency. He slammed the first man’s head against the brick wall and disarmed the second with a swift strike to the throat.
Panicking, Vance turned and grabbed Camille by the arm, spinning her around and pressing a heavy steel wrench against her throat as a human shield.
"Drop the gun, Shaw, or she goes over the edge right now!" Vance screamed, dragging Camille backward toward the slick, unprotected perimeter of the helipad where the safety rail had been temporarily removed for ongoing crane maintenance.
Declan froze. The submachine gun slipped from his fingers and clattered onto the wet concrete. His breathing slowed, his eyes locking onto Vance with an intensity that made the corrupt COO tremble.
"Let her go, Vance," Declan said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. "This is between you and me."
"Drop to your knees! Do it now!" Vance ordered, tightening his grip around Camille’s neck as the howling wind whipped dangerously around them.
Declan slowly lowered himself to one knee, keeping his hands visible. "I'm down. Let her go."
Vance laughed hysterically, shoving Camille violently toward the open ledge where the safety rail was missing. "Goodbye, Ms. CEO!"
Camille screamed as her feet slipped on the rain-slicked concrete near the four-hundred-foot drop. She tumbled backward over the edge, her fingers desperately clawing at the icy metal rim of the platform before losing her grip entirely.
In that fraction of a second, Declan abandoned all caution. He lunged forward across the wet concrete with superhuman speed, ignoring the agonizing pain in his injured shoulder.
Just as Camille’s body plummeted over the edge into the abyss, Declan dove headfirst over the precipice, extending his right arm to its absolute limit.
Grab!
His fingers locked around the strap of her leather briefcase, which she was still clutching with white-knuckled desperation. With a violent wrench of his core muscles, Declan slammed his left boot hard against a protruding maintenance bracket on the building's exterior wall, anchoring his weight just as Camille’s full body weight jerked downward.
"I've got you!" Declan roared over the wind, his muscles straining against gravity.
May you like
With one explosive, agonizing effort, Declan hauled Camille upward, swinging her over the ledge and collapsing safely onto the wet concrete of the helipad, pulling her tightly against his chest.
Above them, Vance stared in absolute horror. Before the corrupt COO could turn to run, Declan rose to his feet like an avenging angel, crossed the distance in three strides, and delivered a devastating punch that sent Vance crashing unconscious to the deck.
