Chapter 9 - The Negotiation|
Damon froze, the barrel of his rifle pointed directly at Cruz’s chest.
The distance between them was fifteen feet. Too far to physically disarm the massive enforcer, but close enough to see the terrified, frantic pleading in Selena’s eyes. She was shaking violently against the plastic restraints, staring at Damon as if he were a ghost.
“You’re a dead man, Cruz,” Damon said, his voice entirely devoid of panic, dropping into a terrifyingly calm register. “Look out the window. My men own this building.”
Cruz glanced down through the dirty glass. The shadow team had secured the perimeter and were aiming their rifles up at the office.
“I don't care!” Cruz yelled, sweating profusely. “Victor told me to hand her over to the Sinaloas. If I don't, he kills my family! You drop the gun, Damon, or she dies right now.”
Damon calculated the angles. Cruz was using Selena as a human shield, keeping his body perfectly hidden behind her chair. A center-mass shot was impossible. The only exposed target was the sliver of Cruz’s forehead visible above Selena’s dark hair.
It was a shot Damon could make on a gun range. But with Selena thrashing in terror, the margin of error was zero.
“Victor is tied up on the floor of my boardroom,” Damon said smoothly, slowly lowering his rifle by an inch. “His coup failed. The Sinaloas aren't coming to pay you, Cruz. They’re coming to kill you, take the girl, and use her to leverage me. You are expendable to them.”
Cruz hesitated, his eyes darting frantically. The logic was sinking in.
“I can pay you,” Damon offered, his voice hypnotic, reasonable. “Five million dollars. In an offshore account by tomorrow morning. You walk out of here, you disappear, and your family lives like kings. But you have to take the gun off her head.”
Selena let out a muffled sob through the duct tape, her chest heaving.
“Five million?” Cruz asked, his grip on the gun faltering slightly.
“Five million,” Damon confirmed. “All you have to do is lower the weapon.”
Cruz swallowed hard. He looked at Damon, then at the gun in his hand. Slowly, agonizingly, he began to pull the weapon away from Selena’s head, lowering it toward his side.
For a fraction of a second, Cruz’s head was fully exposed.
Damon didn't wait for a handshake.
He snapped the rifle up and fired a single, suppressed shot.
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The bullet struck Cruz directly between the eyes. The enforcer collapsed backward like a puppet with its strings cut, hitting the floor with a heavy thud.
Damon dropped his rifle on its sling and rushed forward.
