Chapter 2 - The Silent Guardian
The next three days were a blur of exhausting shifts and freezing commutes. Clara tried to push the encounter at the fountain out of her mind. She had more pressing matters to worry about—namely, Lily’s upcoming school fees and a landlord who was threatening eviction if she didn't pay the remaining balance on her rent by Friday.
But Clara couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.
When she walked Lily to her kindergarten class in the mornings, she noticed a sleek, black SUV parked down the street. It was always there, engine idling silently, windows tinted so dark she couldn't see inside. At first, she thought she was being paranoid. But on Wednesday night, when she stepped out of the diner at 11:00 PM into a torrential downpour, the same SUV was parked right across the street.
As Clara pulled her cheap umbrella open, only for a gust of wind to instantly snap the metal ribs, she sighed in defeat. She was soaked, freezing, and looking at a forty-minute walk in the rain because she had missed the last bus.
Suddenly, a massive black umbrella materialized over her head, shielding her from the downpour.
Clara gasped, jumping back. Standing beside her was one of the guards she had seen with Victor Vance at the fountain. He was dressed in a sharp suit, completely unfazed by the rain.
"Good evening, Ms. Vale," the man said politely. "Mr. Vance requested that I ensure you get home safely. Please, the car is warmed up."
"I am not getting into a stranger's car," Clara said fiercely, though she was shivering violently. "Tell your boss to leave me alone. I don't want his money, and I don't want his charity."
"It's not charity, Ms. Vale. It's protection," a voice called out from the back seat of the SUV as the window rolled down.
Victor Vance sat in the leather-bound interior, a laptop open on his lap, looking as calm and collected as if he were sitting in a boardroom. "You walked away from a Vance, Clara. But a Vance never leaves a debt unpaid. Get in the car. If not for your own sake, then for your daughter, Lily, who is waiting for you at home with her babysitter, Mrs. Gable."
Clara froze, her heart leaping into her throat. "How do you know my daughter's name? How do you know who is watching her?"
"I know everything about the people who cross my path," Victor said, his tone dropping to a dangerous, protective register. "And right now, Clara, you need to get in this car. Because the people I fight against have realized that you are the only person in this city who made Victor Vance hesitate. And that makes you a target."
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As if on cue, the headlights of a sedan parked further down the block suddenly flashed on, accelerating rapidly toward them. The bodyguard didn't hesitate. He grabbed Clara’s arm, shoved her into the back seat of the SUV beside Victor, and slammed the door just as a loud, deafening crack echoed through the street.
A bullet struck the armored glass of the SUV, leaving a white spiderweb crack but failing to penetrate.
