“Or what?” My legs are shaky and I lean against the wall to support myself.
Lucia stands next to me.
He steps forward, just enough to flex authority. “Or I’ll shut your mouths permanently. I’m getting tired of hearing you two yapping.”
I don’t flinch. I meet his gaze head-on. “It’s clear that’s not what your boss wants. If he wanted us dead, we would already be. If you kill us without his approval, you may end up being dumped into a river.”
The guard’s lip twitches, but he doesn’t reply. He snarls and goes back to his post.
I breathe a sigh of relief. Whoever is behind this wants us alive for some reason.
Just then, footsteps echo on the stairwell outside the door.
Tension in the air shifts, even the guards stiffen.
The footsteps are louder now.
We stand with bated breath, like an audience awaiting the final act instead of hostages.
Two masked men dressed in suits holding guns enter the room. One is holding a silk bag in his gloved hand. The second man jerks his thumb at the two guards to leave the room. The guards exit without a word.
The first man walks across the room and places the bag on a crate. He places his gun next to it.
The second man leans against the beam with his gun pointed at us.
Something in my stomach twists.
I recognize the height of these men.
Their body structure.
It can’t be.
The first man opens the silk bag. He pulls out objects one at a time.
It’s a chess board and wooden pieces.
Glimpses of polished golden rosewood catch my attention and I gasp.
It’s my father’s chess board.
He spills the remaining pieces across the crate, letting them clatter like bones.
Then the man arranges them like he’s going to play.
King. Bishop. Knight. Rook. Pawn.
In the center of the board he places the queen.
Drawing a knife from his pocket, he raises it high and brings it down hard.
Crack.
Steel slams into the wood.
The blade slices through the queen’s crown, burying itself into the body.
My heart flutters. Lucia grabs my arm.
