Chapter 2 - Sparrow
Sarah grabbed Alex by the shoulder.
“Down.”
He dropped behind the overturned table just as glass exploded above them.
Sarah moved with terrifying precision.
Not fast.
Not wildly.
Every movement had purpose.
She pulled Alex behind a marble column and checked the restaurant entrance.
Three tactical operators appeared in the hallway.
They weren't police.
Their uniforms carried no recognizable insignia.
Sarah's eyes narrowed.
“Do you know them?”
Alex shook his head.
“Should I?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“That's why they're dangerous.”
Alex stared at her.
“You're Sparrow.”
Sarah didn't respond.
“You disappeared twelve years ago.”
Her eyes finally met his.
“How do you know that name?”
“Because my brother knew it.”
That stopped her.
“Which brother?”
“Matteo.”
Sarah's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Alex saw it.
“You knew him.”
“I knew a man named Matteo Vincenzo.”
“He was my younger brother.”
“He's dead.”
Alex's jaw tightened.
“That's what I was told.”
Sarah looked toward the hallway again.
“Then whoever is here knows more about your family than you do.”
A burst of gunfire struck the marble column.
Sarah pulled Alex lower.
She spotted an emergency service door behind the kitchen.
“We leave through there.”
Alex followed.
But before they reached it, Sarah heard a metallic click.
She stopped.
“Don't move.”
Alex froze.
“What?”
Sarah looked at the floor.
The silver fork from the dining table had landed beside her shoe.
Its reflection showed something behind them.
A laser sight.
Sarah grabbed Alex and shoved him sideways.
The shot missed.
The bullet struck the wall.
They ran.
Sarah reached the kitchen.
The staff stared at her.
One cook whispered, “Sparrow?”
Sarah stopped.
That frightened her more than the gunfire.
The name had spread.
Someone had prepared this entire night.
May you like
And everyone in the restaurant seemed to know something she didn't.
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