Chapter 268

Chapter 268:

Rose slowed to a walk as she reached a busier street. She couldn’t look like she was running. Couldn’t draw attention to herself. She smoothed her hair, adjusted her clothing, and wiped the fear from her face. The gun went back into her bag, hidden beneath a scarf.

A taxi approached. Rose raised her hand, forcing her most charming smile.

“Where to?” the driver asked as she slid into the back seat.

“Bus station,” Rose said. “I’ve got a long journey ahead.”

As the taxi pulled away, Rose watched police cars speed past in the opposite direction. More units responding to the shooting. More people who would soon be looking for her.

She leaned back against the seat, forcing her breathing to slow, forcing her mind to focus. This wasn’t over. She could still win. She just needed to adapt. To evolve her plan.

Herod had been a tool. A useful one, but replaceable. She’d find another way to destroy Camille. Another path to the life that should have been hers all along.

And if Herod lived? If he told them everything?

Rose touched the gun in her bag, her finger tracing its deadly shape through the fabric.

Then she’d just have to silence him permanently. Him and anyone else who stood in her way.

The FBI would be watching airports, train stations, bus terminals. They’d have her photo, her description. But Rose Lewis had disappeared before. Had become someone new. She could do it again.

For now, she needed to get out of the city. To vanish until the hunt died down.

And then, when they least expected it, she would return. After all, she still had unfinished business with Camille.

Special Agent Diana Chen crouched beside the bleeding man on the motel room floor. The medical team worked frantically to stabilize him, their hands moving with practiced efficiency.

“Three gunshot wounds to the chest,” one of them reported. “He’s losing blood fast.”

“Can he talk?” Chen asked.

The medic shook his head. “Not now. Maybe not ever.”

Chen stood, surveying the room. Three bullet holes in the door. Shell casings on the carpet near the entrance. Signs of a hasty departure through the bathroom window.

“Rose Lewis,” said Agent Morgan, joining her. “Room’s registered under her name. Paid cash for three nights.”

“She was careless,” Chen remarked.

“Or in a hurry.” Morgan pointed to the open drawers, clothes strewn about.

“They left in a rush. Split up when he decided to turn himself in.”

“And she decided to shut him up permanently.” Chen’s eyes fell on the phone on the floor beside the victim. “Was he still connected when we arrived?”

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