**Chapter 4: Shattered Glass**
**Skyline Lounge — 8:02 PM**
The bullet tore through the rain-streaked window, spraying shards like diamonds. Clifford yanked Tania to the floor as chaos erupted—screams, shattered glass, the thud of bodies hitting marble. Another shot ricocheted off the steel bar, sending liquor bottles exploding in a hail of vodka and vermouth.
"Move!" Clifford barked, dragging her toward the service elevator. His limp vanished under adrenaline, his grip iron.
Tania's pulse roared in her ears. *Crowe knows. He always knows.*
The elevator doors closed just as a black-clad figure breached the rooftop. Tania caught a glimpse of a rifle's scope glinting before the descent swallowed them.
**Underground Parking Garage — 8:17 PM**
Clifford's black Tesla screeched out of the garage, tires smoking. Tania clutched the Project Echo files, the schematics blurring under her trembling hands. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere Crowe can't eavesdrop," he said, jaw taut. The dashboard screen flickered with police alerts: *ARMED ASSAULT AT SKYLINE LOUNGE. SUSPECTS AT LARGE.*
"They'll pin this on us," she whispered.
"They'll try." He swerved onto a deserted side street, the car's AI overriding red lights. "But Crowe's made one mistake: he thinks I'm still the man who plays by boardroom rules."
**The Haven Motel — 10:34 PM**
Room 12 reeked of mildew and mothballs. Tania stared at the flickering TV, where news anchors dissected her slap at the gala in slow motion. *"Mystery Woman Linked to Onward-Crowe Feud!"*
Clifford emerged from the shower, towel slung low, a fresh scar visible above his hip—a relic of the boardroom ambush. Tania's throat went dry. "You never told me Crowe tried to kill me."
He stilled. "I didn't know—not until your father confirmed it. Crowe's been covering his tracks for years." He tossed her a burner phone. "But your parents left a trail. That USB footage? It's staged. The *real* security tapes are in a storage locker your mom rented."
Tania's breath hitched. "Where?"
"Midtown. But it's a trap. Crowe's expecting us."
"So we walk into it?"
"No." His dimples flashed, ruthless. "We rewrite the script."
**Midtown Storage Depot — 2:15 AM**
The locker was padlocked, dust coating its metal ribs. Tania's hands shook as she keyed in her mother's birthday. The door creaked open.
Inside: stacks of lab notebooks, a prototype data chip, and a faded photo of her parents laughing under a *"NeuroTech Innovations"* banner. Clifford lifted the chip to the dim light. "Project Echo. The original."
A voice cut through the shadows. "I'll take that."
Daniel stepped into the flickering fluorescents, a pistol leveled at Clifford. "Don't," he said as Tania lunged. "Eleanor's got snipers on every roof. Give me the chip, and you both walk."
Clifford laughed coldly. "You're a terrible liar, Danny."
"Am I?" Daniel's finger tightened on the trigger. "Crowe promised to spare Tania if I deliver the chip. I'm trying to *save* her."
"From what? *Him?*" Tania gestured to Clifford, her voice breaking. "Or from you?"
Daniel flinched. "You think I wanted this? Crowe threatened my sister. Her *kids*."
A red laser dot bloomed on Clifford's chest.
**Onward Tower Rooftop — 3:00 AM**
Eleanor's laugh crackled over Daniel's earpiece. "Enough theatrics. Toss the chip, or the next bullet isn't a warning."
Clifford raised the chip. "You want it? Catch."
He hurled it off the roof.
Eleanor's scream pierced the night as black-clad figures rappelled down the building. Clifford grabbed Tania's hand. "Run!"
**The Underground — 4:30 AM**
They emerged in a bunker beneath a derelict subway station, walls lined with servers humming like a mechanical heartbeat. Tania collapsed against a terminal. "Was that chip even real?"
"A decoy," Clifford said, pulling up a hologram of Project Echo's code. "The real one's been here all along. Your parents built this place as a dead drop."
She stared at him. "How did *you* know about it?"
His gaze softened. "Because I funded their research. Before Crowe burned it all."
**End of Chapter 4**