The strobe lights of the Pierre Hotel ballroom had long since turned into a nauseating blur of white and crimson. Jenna stood frozen at the podium, the air in her lungs feeling like shards of glass. Alice Florence, the woman who had haunted her marriage, her business, and her very survival, stood only twenty feet away, camouflaged in the mundane grey of a press pool.The red laser dot was a steady, mocking eye on Jenna's chest. It didn't waver. It was the mark of a predator who had finally cornered its prey."Hello, Jenna," Alice's voice purred, amplified by the hot mic into a sound that felt like a serrated blade across the skin. "Did you miss me?"Before Jenna could even scream, the world fractured.CRACK.The gunshot was a physical blow, a thunderclap that shattered the high-society silence of the ballroom. For a heartbeat, the room was a tableau of absolute terror. Jenna felt a violent shove, the wind knocked out of her as a heavy, solid weight collided with her, sending her sprawl
Read more