Chapter 1 - The Cutting EdgeThe heat inside the shed pressed down like a physical weight, thick with the stench of burning cedar, melting plastic, and accelerant. Nora Ellis kept her body low, her lungs burning from the toxic smoke that coiled just inches above the wet concrete floor.

Roman DeLuca strained against the remaining bonds tying his chest and arms to the heavy cedar post. His left sleeve was completely charred, exposing skin red and blistering from the heat, but his slate-gray eyes remained intensely focused.

"Nora, listen to me," Roman commanded, his voice raspy from smoke inhalation. "The pruning shears are underneath that burning cloth. If you reach for them without wetting the area first, the fabric will flare."

Nora didn't hesitate. She grabbed the brass nozzle of the garden hose, directing a powerful arc of water directly onto the spilled canvas and gardening cloth until the flames hissed and died down into smoking black sludge.

"Now!" Roman urged.

Nora lunged forward through the steam, her fingers brushing against the cold steel handles of the long pruning shears. She dragged the tool back across the wet floor, gripping the heavy handles. Without wasting a second, she crawled behind Roman, reaching around the thick cedar post where his wrists were bound by heavy marine-grade nylon cord.

The cord was thick, slippery with water and soot, and terrifyingly tough.

"Hurry," Roman said, his breathing shallow. "The support beam above us is starting to crack."

Nora positioned the jaws of the shears around the taut rope, using all her weight and upper body strength to squeeze. The blades bit into the nylon fibers. With a sharp, sudden snap, the first strand gave way.

"One more!" she gasped, repositioning the tool.

She squeezed again. The second strand parted.

Roman’s arms burst free. He immediately spun around, grabbing the shears from her hands and slicing through the ankle ropes in a single fluid motion. He stumbled forward, coughing heavily, and grabbed Nora by the arm.

"We need to move. Now."

May you like

My mother beat me until I blacked out, and the last thing I remember isn...

I bought my dream house in secret because my family had a habit of treat...

"In front of a crowd of 20 relatives, my mother-in-law k:icke:d a slice...

Dragging her with him, Roman kicked open the charred wooden door just as the entire roof rafter above where he had been tied collapsed in a storm of sparks and fire.

They burst out into the cool, rain-washed air of the estate grounds, collapsing onto the wet grass behind the stone fountain where Maisie was waiting.