Chapter 17 - The Sixty-Second Countdown“Run!” Roman roared, drawing his weapon and firing a single shot into Lorenzo’s chest.
The bullet hit Lorenzo dead center, throwing him backward through the floor-to-ceiling glass window. The glass shattered into millions of diamonds as Lorenzo plummeted fifty stories into the Manhattan night, his silver cane slipping from his grip.
But as he fell, his thumb pressed the detonator.
A high-pitched, continuous beep filled the boardroom. The red digital timer underneath the table began ticking down from sixty seconds.
00:59... 00:58...
Panic erupted. The elders screamed, trampling over each other as they raced toward the emergency stairwell. Marcus ran into the room, grabbing my arm. “Boss! We have to get to the helipad! The elevator lines are cut!”
“Bianca, give me the baby and run!” Roman shouted, trying to pull Clara Victoria from my arms so he could shield her as we ran.
“No!” I screamed over the blaring alarms. “The rooftop is too far! We won't make it up five flights of stairs in forty seconds with a newborn!”
00:39... 00:38...
I looked at the shattered window where Lorenzo had just fallen. The high-speed window-washing platform was stationed right outside the ledger, a heavy steel cage suspended by industrial steel cables used by the maintenance crew.
“The platform!” I pointed to the open air outside the broken glass. “Roman, the platform!”
Roman didn't hesitate. He ran to the edge, grabbed the thick steel control cables, and pulled the mechanical platform closer to the building. He jumped onto it first, his boots skidding on the wet metal, then reached his arms out to me.
“Give her to me!” he yelled over the howling wind.
I carefully passed the sleeping Clara Victoria into his strong, steady hands. He tucked her inside his tuxedo jacket, zipping it up to her neck to protect her from the wind.
00:19... 00:18...
I climbed through the shattered frame, my emerald dress catching on a shard of glass, ripping a long tear up my thigh. I didn't care. I lunged forward, my hands catching the cold steel railing of the platform just as my feet slipped into the open air.
Roman caught my waist with his free arm, pulling me up into the cage with a brute force born of sheer adrenaline.
“Marcus! Jump!” Roman yelled back into the room.
Marcus didn't jump onto the platform; he used his tactical grapple gun to launch himself down the side of the building, descending like a spider into the shadows.
00:03... 00:02...
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Roman slammed his fist into the platform’s emergency drop lever, cutting the electronic brakes. The steel cage dropped like a stone, plunging straight down the side of the skyscraper at terrifying speed.
A second later, the sky exploded.
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