Novels by Precious Australia

Chapter 24: The Key WitnessThe sudden quiet was louder than the sirens. The FBI agents had Silas’s men on the ground, cuffed. The suited man, Edward Lawson, stood as an island of calm in the storm of flashing lights.Adrian’s mind couldn’t process it. One second he was facing a trunk, the next he was a ‘key witness.’ He looked at Victor, whose face was a mask of pure, calculating panic. He looked at Lena, who was staring at the agents as if they were aliens. Mark just looked numb.Lawson gestured to a clean, armored SUV. “Mr. Cole, Mrs. Hale, Mr. Cole. If you’d come with me. We have a secure location.”“I’m not going anywhere with him,” Lena said, her voice trembling as she pointed at Victor.“He’s coming too,” Lawson said smoothly. “In a separate vehicle. He has a great deal to answer for.”Victor found his voice. “On what charges? This is harassment! I was attacked!”“The charges,” Lawson said, pulling a folded document from his inside pocket, “include racketeering, fraud, conspira

Chapter 23: Between MonstersThe warm, safe apartment turned ice cold in an instant. Silas’s voice on the intercom was a snake’s hiss in the room.Victor’s calm was gone. His eyes darted from the door to the balcony, a caged animal calculating escape. He wasn't a king here anymore. He was a rat between two terriers.He pointed a shaking finger at Adrian. “This is your fault. You led him here.”Adrian didn’t answer. He was watching Lena. She stood tall, her bluff hanging in the air. It was the bravest thing he’d ever seen her do.Victor’s mother appeared in the hallway, wringing her hands. “Victor, what is happening? Who are these men?”“Go to your room, Mother,” Victor snapped, not looking at her. “Lock the door.”Silas’s voice came again, softer, more dangerous. “My patience is thin, Victor. Sixty seconds.”“We have to get out of here,” Mark whispered, his voice filled with pain.“How?” Lena asked, her defiant mask slipping back into terror. “They’re at the door.”Adrian’s mind, push

Chapter 22: The Spider's ParlorVictor Hale stood in the doorway of the lavish apartment, backlit like a king in his hall. He held a crystal glass of water, not whiskey. He looked calm. Restrained. More dangerous than ever.The elderly woman—his mother—gave them one more pitying glance and retreated into the shadows of the apartment.“Come in,” Victor said, his tone pleasant. “You look like you’ve had a night.”Adrian’s body screamed to run, but there was nowhere to go. Behind him was a forty-two story drop. In front of him, the devil himself. Lena was shaking violently beside him, whether from cold, fear, or fury, he couldn’t tell. Mark just looked broken, past caring.They stepped inside. The apartment was the opposite of Adrian’s sterile perch. It was all warm woods, soft rugs, family photos in silver frames. It felt like a home. The most terrifying kind of trap.“Sit,” Victor gestured to a large, plush sofa. He didn’t have guards with him. He didn’t need them here. This was his mo

Chapter 21: The Edge of the SkyThe bathroom was a tiny, tiled coffin. The three of them barely fit. Adrian locked the door behind them just as they heard the main apartment door crash open. Heavy footsteps thudded through the studio.“Clear the room!” a voice barked.Adrian didn’t waste a second. He pointed to the shower. It was a glass cube. The large, fixed window formed its back wall. He climbed in, Lena and Mark crowding behind him.“What are we doing?” Lena whispered, her voice shaking.“We’re leaving,” Adrian said, his voice eerily calm. He placed his palms flat against the bottom corner of the huge windowpane, where he remembered the seal was weak. He pushed, not with brute force, but with a steady, focused pressure, leaning his whole weight into it. The muscles in his arms corded with strain.Nothing.Behind the bathroom door, a fist pounded. “Bathroom’s locked!”“Get the master key,” another voice said.Mark leaned against the sink, his face ashen. “Adrian…”“Trust me,” Adri

Chapter 20: The Last StandThe blaring alarm was a drill in Adrian’s skull. In the blue glow of the laptop, Lena’s face was a mask of terror. Mark struggled to sit up, his breath coming in panicked rasps.Trapped. Forty-two floors up. No way out.Adrian’s eyes flew over the security feeds. Silas’s men were methodical. Two securing the lobby. Two more at the stairwell doors. Silas himself stood by the concierge desk, looking up, as if he could see through the floors right to them. He was waiting. Giving Adrian a moment to understand how utterly he’d lost.“What do we do?” Lena whispered, her voice swallowed by the alarm.Adrian’s mind, the part trained by Silas, ran through options. None were good. Fight? They were injured and outnumbered. Hide? There was nowhere. Negotiate? With what?He looked at the hard drive. The truth. It was all he had left.The alarm cut off as suddenly as it started. The silence that followed was more terrifying. It meant Silas was in control.Adrian’s laptop

Chapter 19: The Human PriceAdrian ran down the sterile hallway, the stolen hard drive a brick in his pocket. Behind him, he heard Silas’s roar of fury, the sound of chairs overturning. The cold, calculating architect had finally snapped.Adrian didn’t care. The ghost was gone. The weapon was dropped. All that was left was a desperate man, running on pure instinct.He hit the street, the cold air a slap. He had no car, no plan. Just a location: a closed gas station two miles away. He started to run.As he ran, his mind replayed Silas’s words. Weapons do not have hearts. He’d been trying to carve his out for years. Now, with every pounding step, he felt it beating, ragged and terrified, in his chest. For them.He cut through an alley, his breath white in the dark. He pulled out his phone, the one Lena had texted. He typed as he ran.“Don’t move. Don’t use your phones. He’s coming for you. I’m coming. 10 minutes.”He didn’t know if she’d see it. He just sent it into the void.Eight minu