CHAPTER 3: THE PRICE ON THE LITTLE GIRL
CHAPTER 3: THE PRICE ON THE LITTLE GIRL
The first bullet struck the stainless-steel serving station with a deafening clang.
Bridget screamed and threw herself over Annie, shielding her daughter's tiny body with her own.
"Please..." she whispered. "Don't look at them. Don't move."
But Annie couldn't stop looking.
The assassins weren't firing wildly.
Every shot was calculated.
Every step was coordinated.
"They're surrounding us," Annie whispered.
Ryder Burke glanced at her.
"How many?"
"Three moving."
She listened.
"...No."
Her face tightened.
"Four."
Ryder frowned.
"One never joined the attack."
A chill crawled down his spine.
The invisible one.
The planner.
The real leader.
"Boss!"
One of Ryder's security chiefs slid behind the overturned table, bleeding from his shoulder.
"They've boxed us in."
"Exit?"
"Blocked."
"Police?"
"Eight minutes away."
Ryder's jaw tightened.
Eight minutes might as well have been eight hours.
The emergency lights painted everyone's faces crimson.
Fear hung in the air like smoke.
Then Annie grabbed Ryder's sleeve.
"They're lying."
He looked at her.
"What?"
"They're pretending to trap us."
Her breathing became uneven as she watched lips moving across the ballroom.
"The leader says..."
She swallowed hard.
"...'Push Burke toward the kitchen.'"
Ryder's eyes narrowed.
"The kitchen?"
"They planted something there."
Without hesitation, Ryder shouted,
"Nobody goes near the kitchen!"
His bodyguards immediately changed formation.
At the opposite end of the ballroom, the oldest Japanese assassin's expression changed for the first time.
Confusion.
How did Burke know?
He had spoken only Japanese.
Only his own men had heard the order.
Unless...
His eyes slowly found Annie.
The child.
Impossible.
The assassin raised two fingers.
A silent signal.
The remaining killers immediately abandoned Ryder.
Every one of them turned toward Annie.
Bridget felt her stomach collapse.
"No..."
She wrapped both arms around her daughter.
"She's just a little girl!"
One assassin answered in flawless English.
"Exactly."
His smile never reached his eyes.
"Which is why no one will suspect her disappearance."
Before anyone could react, the ballroom lights suddenly came back on.
Guests blinked against the brightness.
Some were crawling beneath tables.
Others were frozen in shock.
The wealthy charity gala had become a crime scene.
Hotel security finally burst through the entrance.
"Drop your weapons!"
The assassins didn't even look at them.
Instead...
One tossed a smoke grenade onto the marble floor.
Thick gray smoke erupted instantly.
People screamed again.
Visibility vanished.
Ryder's instincts screamed.
"They're taking the girl!"
He lunged into the smoke.
Too late.
Bridget suddenly felt Annie's hand ripped from hers.
"ANNIE!"
Her daughter's terrified scream echoed through the ballroom.
"Mom!"
Bridget stumbled blindly through the smoke.
"Annie!"
Nothing.
Only coughing.
Footsteps.
Then silence.
The smoke slowly cleared.
Guests emerged one by one.
Security officers searched frantically.
Broken glass covered the floor.
Three assassins lay unconscious after fighting Ryder's guards.
But one...
Was gone.
So was Annie.
Bridget collapsed onto her knees.
"No..."
Her voice cracked.
"No... no... no..."
She searched every face.
Every corner.
Nothing.
Her little girl had disappeared.
Across the room, Ryder Burke stared toward the shattered service corridor.
The leader hadn't failed tonight.
He had adapted.
Poison had become kidnapping.
Ryder spoke quietly.
"They've declared war."
His security chief asked,
"What are your orders?"
Ryder's answer came without hesitation.
"Seal every bridge."
"Every airport."
"Every harbor."
His eyes became ice.
May you like
"And find the little girl..."
"...before they realize exactly how valuable she is."
