Shadows Chapter 12
Massacre




“Your daughter is very beautiful, and seems smart, too. You have assured me that she is a virgin. I have a client who would pay highly for her first time, and others who would happily use her services after. She is a cut above the other girls I have. Your price is acceptable,” Gok told Suzanne.
“The Cappelli’s can’t know you have her...I want them to think she ran away...I don’t want my situation with them ruined,” Suzanne insisted.

“It will be as you wish. My brother and my associate are downstairs with the other girls. We will take your daughter into our care tonight,” Gok said.
“Fine by me,” Suzanne nodded.





“Well, well, what do we have here? A conspiracy, I think,” a dry voice said.
Gok leapt to his feet. The muffled thud of gunfire came to his ears. He glared at Marco Cappelli.


“Your people or mine, Mr Han?” Marco grinned. “I think your little empire might be tumbling. You shouldn’t have come here. Invading my territory.”
Still smiling Marco levelled his gun. Gok reactions were too slow and he neither moved out of the way nor returned fire. Suzanne watched in horror as blood appeared on his coat.






She leapt away from the table and stood staring at the dying man. Gok slumped over the table, trying to get himself into the chair, his hand clutching the wound.
There were other sounds around her. Screams and gunfire, but all that Suzanne could see was Gok Han, dead on the table.





Then, as if in a dream, she turned to take in the rest of the scene. Bodies strewed the floor lying in puddles of blood. Mostly Orientals, but some of the Cappelli’s men, too. A pretty blonde woman was collapsing to the floor, blood staining her pink gown.





A short distance away the man she had been with was clutching his stomach, bent over in agony. Angelo Cappelli raised his weapon and delivered another shot.
The man lay still. Angelo stood over him, checking that he was not getting up. No witnesses Marco had said.
Angelo looked around the room and nodded with satisfaction. So there were no witnesses.





“And now for you, you traitorous bitch. We were good to you and you were dealing with our enemies. I’m going to have to punish you, Suzanne,” Marco growled.
“Marco, please...I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise. I made a mistake...” Suzanne wailed, trying to reach out to him.
Marco pushed her hand from his arm and shoved her away from him.





“You are so right, my darling. It won’t” he grinned.
He placed the gun against Suzanne’s chest and fired.
“You didn’t need to do that,” Stephano said mildly. “You could have punished her some other way.”
“She betrayed me. She was a witness. A loose end,” Marco shrugged.
“Time to go?” Enrique asked Angelo.
He felt sick to his stomach. He was not cut out for this life.
“I think so,” Angelo shrugged.
“Check through there. We want no witnesses,” Marco ordered.





“The office, get in there!” Irissa ordered Zara.
She had tried to use her cell phone to call for help but there had been no signal in the bathroom.
“Irissa, I think one of them saw me!” Zara hissed as they ducked into the office.
“Then we don’t have much time, if any. I’m going to try to call Sergey. Shut the door and try to hide. Maybe they will think there’s just one of us. You duck out of sight,” Irissa ordered, her heart thumping.
“So why don’t you hide? It was me they saw,” Zara retorted.
She was terrified, but whatever was happening she and Irissa were in it together, sink or swim.





Irissa punched the key that called Sergey’s number and paced impatiently while it rang. Zara could see that she was shaking as much as Zara herself.
“Sergey...please...it’s Irissa...I... Zara and I are in so much trouble... we’re at the Shanghai Towers and there’s so much shooting...Sergey I think we’re going to die!” She gasped.
She listened for a second and then hung up
“He’s on his way,” she told Zara in a trembling voice.






She turned and snatched one of the ornamental swords from the wall. Frowning, Zara copied her.
“What are these supposed to do against guns?” She asked with dry humour in her voice.
“Nothing,” Irissa conceded, “But at least I won’t die looking like a timid victim. I’ve had more than enough of that.”
Zara managed a weak smile.
“Fine by me,” she murmured.






Then the door opened and Marco and Enrique Cappelli came through it.