Chapter 14 - The Conservatory Trap
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At three-thirty that afternoon, rain was still drumming steadily against the arched stained-glass windows of the St. Cecilia Community Music School in downtown Providence. Noel insisted on finishing her Thursday lessons for her scholarship students, refusing to let Preston Hollis frighten her out of her daily life.
Dante had stationed two of his trusted guards in a sedan outside the front steps, while Delaney leaned against the back wall of the second-floor recital hall, watching Noel pack her nineteen-century violin into its velvet-lined case.
"You really don't have to shadow me like a Secret Service agent, Delaney," Noel said with a small, grateful smile as she snapped the brass latches shut. "Dante has two men downstairs, and Vance Hollis is probably already drafting the transfer papers."
"Vance Hollis is a businessman, which makes him predictable," Delaney said, walking over to the tall window and looking down at the street. "His son is an idiot with a bruised ego and nothing left to lose. That makes him dangerous."
Delaney’s eyes narrowed. Down on the wet street, the black sedan holding Dante’s two guards wasn't idling anymore—exhaust had stopped rising from its tailpipe. And standing by the parking meter across the street was a man in a grey utility jacket holding an umbrella, staring directly up at the second-floor windows while speaking into a throat mic.
Delaney’s hand went straight to her pistol.
"Leave the violin, Noel," Delaney commanded sharply, grabbing the younger woman’s arm. "Back stairs. Now."
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Before they could reach the hallway door, the lights in the recital hall died. Down at the end of the mahogany corridor, the heavy fire doors burst inward with the muted thud of a tactical breaching charge. Four men wearing black balaclavas and body armor swept into the building, carrying compact assault rifles fitted with suppressors.
"Check the practice rooms!" a thick Eastern European voice barked in the dark corridor. "Hollis said the girl is on the second floor! Kill anyone else!"
