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Chapter 12: Fire Exit
The red dot moved fast.
Rina saw it too late.
Glass shattered.
Kilo dropped like a puppet with cut strings—alive, but barely.
Eliot was already moving.
"Down!" he shouted, crashing through the back door like a thunderclap. He grabbed Rina, shielding her body with his own as another shot rang out—sparking off metal just inches from them.
Rina screamed, but Eliot didn't flinch. His hand found hers. "Follow me. Now!"
They bolted through the service corridor behind the arcade. Pipes hissed above. The hallway glowed red—fire, set to destroy evidence and witnesses.
"They're burning it down," Rina gasped.
"They're cleaning house," Eliot growled. "You rattled them."
Smoke thickened. Flames licked the walls.
At the far end—a bolted fire door.
Eliot turned, slammed his shoulder into it once, twice—
Boom.
They crashed into the alley just as the building behind them erupted in flame.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Rina coughed violently, gripping Eliot's coat.
"They tried to kill us."
"No," he said, dragging her to his car. "They tried to scare us. If they wanted us dead, we'd be dead."
"Who are they, Eliot?"
He paused before answering.
"People who think truth is more dangerous than bullets."
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