Chapter 2 - The Taste of Marble
The deafening report of the rifle shot arrived a heartbeat after the glass exploded.
It sounded like a lightning strike detonating inside an enclosed room.
Wood splinters, shredded plaster, and needle-sharp glass rained down upon the foyer floor.
Norah lay sprawled across Daniel Russo's chest, her lungs gasping for oxygen as the cold wind poured through the blown-out window.
The smell of cordite and pulverized oak instantly overpowered the scent of lye soap.
""Shooter on the ridge!"" Carmine roared, throwing his bulky frame against the marble pillar for cover.
He drew a black Glock from beneath his coat, his eyes wide with frantic, disorganized panic.
""Get the perimeter lights killed!"" Carmine screamed toward the front entryway.
The two exterior sentries barged inside with tactical carbines raised, sweeping their barrels across the foyer.
Before Norah could even push herself upright, a heavy hand grabbed the back of her uniform collar.
Carmine dragged her violently off Daniel, slamming her down onto the suds-covered floor.
The cold barrel of his Glock pressed hard against the hollow beneath Norah's ear.
""Don't you move, you little bitch!"" Carmine snarled, spit spraying from his teeth.
""She tackled him on cue! She was the distraction for the spotter!""
Norah's cheek pressed into the freezing marble, mixed with the greasy suds of her own wash bucket.
Her right hand was throbbing with agony; two of her knuckles were swollen, bleeding freely onto the white tiles.
She could hear the clicks of the guards' weapon safeties being disengaged around her.
""I said don't move or I paint this wall with your brain!"" Carmine yelled, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Norah squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the sudden hammer strike of death.
""Carmine.""
The voice was quiet, but it cut through the screaming wind and the shouting guards like a scalpel.
Daniel Russo pushed himself off the floor, rising to one knee with lethal, controlled balance.
His charcoal coat was dusted with white plaster, and blood trickled from a split in his lower lip.
He wiped the blood away with the back of his thumb, staring at the dark smear on his skin.
""Boss, she attacked you!"" Carmine shouted, his weapon still pinned to Norah's skull.
""She's an operative! The hit was timed with her rush!""
Daniel stood up fully, towering over both of them in the ruined foyer.
He did not look at Norah first.
Instead, he turned slowly and examined the grand staircase behind him.
Three inches above where his ear had been resting, a jagged, smoking crater the size of a fist was carved into the antique oak.
The slug had passed cleanly through three inches of solid wood before burying itself deep into the brickwork of the chimney.
Daniel walked over to the crater, touched the splintered edges with two fingers, and leaned down.
He picked up a twisted shard of copper jacket that had sheared off against the timber.
""A Lapua magnum,"" Daniel said, his voice terrifyingly calm.
""Fired from at least four hundred yards out in the tree line.""
He turned back toward Carmine, his dark eyes freezing the lieutenant in place.
""If she had not hit me, Carmine, my skull would currently be spread across the portrait of my grandfather.""
Carmine lowered the Glock by half an inch, his jaw slacking in confusion.
""Stand down, Carmine,"" Daniel commanded.
The lieutenant hesitated for a fraction of a second, then clicked the safety and reholstered the weapon.
""Get the exterior tactical teams into the woods,"" Daniel ordered the two door guards.
""Seal the access roads, check the culverts, and notify the ridge patrol that anyone leaving on foot is to be killed instantly.""
The guards vanished into the storm, their heavy boots crunching over the broken glass on the front terrace.
Daniel walked slowly across the suds-slick floor until he stood directly over Norah.
Norah remained on her knees, shivering uncontrollably from the freezing wind blowing through the shattered window.
""Look at me,"" Daniel said.
Norah swallowed the copper taste of fear and forced her eyes up to meet his.
His gaze was neither grateful nor angry; it was an impenetrable wall of calculating intelligence.
He crouched down until his eyes were level with hers, resting his forearm on his knee.
""You struck me with a closed fist,"" Daniel observed, his voice soft.
""I did,"" Norah whispered, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to steady it.
""Most people who see a rifle laser either freeze in terror or dive for cover themselves,"" he noted.
""Why didn't you dive behind your bucket?""
""The bucket wouldn't have stopped a rifle bullet,"" Norah replied, her Southside accent breaking through her servant's demeanor.
""And if I yelled, you would have looked right into the barrel.""
Daniel tilted his head slightly, studying the bruised swelling on her right hand.
""You know how rifles work?""
""My brother was killed on Forty-Ninth Street,"" she said flatly.
""I know what a long-distance spot looks like when the streetlights hit the scope.""
""What is your name?"" Daniel asked.
""Norah,"" she whispered.
""Norah Hayes.""
""How long have you worked under my roof, Norah Hayes?""
""Two years, Mr. Russo.""
Daniel stood up smoothly, reaching down with one gloved hand to take her uninjured left wrist.
He pulled her to her feet with effortless strength, keeping her steady as her trembling knees threatened to give out.
""Mrs. Gable hired you?"" he asked, not letting go of her wrist.
""Yes, sir.""
""Carmine,"" Daniel said without looking back at his lieutenant.
""Boss?""
""Bring Norah to the third-floor library.""
Carmine blinked, clearly unsettled.
""You want her in the family quarters? Boss, we haven't vetted her yet—""
""I don't need you to vet her, Carmine,"" Daniel said, his eyes still locked on Norah's pale face.
""She just proved she has better reflexes than my entire security detail.""
May you like
He released her wrist and adjusted the cuffs of his overcoat.
""Bring her upstairs, clean her hands, and ensure no one leaves this property alive without my personal signature.""
