Fear No Evil

Chapter 39

Paris

Bree was down on her knees behind a small Peugeot with her pistol out. Abelmar’s assistant was forward and to her right, still standing on the sidewalk. Valentina had been frozen in place and screaming since the billionaire’s security chief was shot, but when Bree shouted for her, she finally ducked, ran to Bree, and crouched beside her.

“Luc’s dead. He’s really dead!” the young woman cried.

An automatic weapon opened fire from a rooftop on the opposite side of the street. Bree saw the muzzle flashes and heard the bullets smack the sides of the cars near Abelmar. She jumped up and aimed at where the flashes had come from, shot off two rounds, and ducked back down.

After a moment, Bree rose to peek through the windows of the Peugeot that shielded them. “Call the police, Valentina! I can’t find my phone.”

Valentina was hysterical, screeching with fear. The machine gun opened up again, raking the car Abelmar was crouched behind. The second the shooting stopped, the billionaire started to rise.

“Philippe!” Valentina shouted. “No! Don’t!”

Abelmar took off toward them in a low charge. Bree rose up and fired twice more at the rooftop to cover him but the shots did not stop the automatic weapon from ripping the night in a sustained burst that caught the tycoon, riddled him with bullets, and cut him down. He crashed to the sidewalk.

Valentina ran to her fallen boss.

“Valentina!” Bree shouted. She emptied her pistol at the rooftop. When the action jammed open, she ducked down and sprinted to Valentina, who was draped across Abelmar, weeping and moaning. From one look, Bree could tell that Abelmar was dead.

Bree grabbed his personal assistant by the arm and dragged her away a split second before the machine gun opened fire yet again. Bullets pinged off the cars and chewed up the concrete sidewalk as the long, raking burst swept at them from behind.