Lightspeed: Drug Detectives

Chapter 13 (Act II): An Uninvited Guest

Hey, everyone! It's your girl Ariel Axilas, and welcome back to yet another chapter of my second novel, "Lightspeed: Drug Detectives"! In the last chapter, my posse—that's myself, my best friend Erica Shields, my on-and-off boss Marle Atkins, and the Paragon Herman—finally got over our brief bit of nausea following our arrival in the Dominican Republic's capital of Santo Domingo and began searching around for a restaurant to eat lunch at. Erica then comes up with the idea to eat at the El Gallego restaurant, which has quite the outdoor eating area, complete with live music.

But let me tell you this, guys. The line was LONG. L-O-N-G. A CSX freight train couldn't hold a candle to the restaurant's queue line. I tried to solve it by going up to the host at the front, but it worked a little too well; the moment he sees me, he actually makes an entire group of other people leave early just to make room for my crew and I. On one hand, I feel bad. But on the other hand.....Celestial Syndicate.

We're seated.....and oh my God, guys.....I legit stared at the menu for what seemed like FOREVER. I eventually did decide what to have as my appetizer and main dish, though—while also inwardly cursing my indecisiveness—and we all started waiting for our orders.

I can't resist poking fun at Marle's choice of clothing as a possible explanation for her gut distress following lunch—after she brings it up in her answer to Erica's question—and Herman briefly went on some kind of medical mumbo-jumbo tangent about glucose. But that chapter ultimately ended right when my team and I were packing up to leave; turns out a crazed and aggressive man is trying to get into the restaurant without a reservation or a proper wait time. Yes, it's basically the exact same thing my team and I did, but I'm a superhero, damn it! I'm supposed to be the one in the right!

Oh, well. It's time to go resolve this situation, so we can get back to the matter of the Syndicate. Who knows? Maybe they might be connected to this. ACTION!

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Before I, Lightspeed, leave our table, I task Erica, Marle, and the Paragon Herman with staying put and helping out anyone who needs it, should things start escalating.

At the front entrance of the restaurant, the verbal altercation between the crazed man and the restaurant's security team has gotten significantly more severe. I try my best to get to the area in time.....

.....and I fail to see the Glock 17 that he pulls out.

I hear a gunshot.....and the host who welcomed my party into the restaurant earlier goes down, never to get back up again since he's now got a gunshot wound directly on his heart.

I quickly skid to a stop; the security team has now dispersed in a panic at the sight of the intruder having a firearm, with most of them now focused on trying to get medical attention to the host.

And, as a result, they end up letting the intruder into the building.....where all of the innocent customers and civilians are.

Shit. Time to change plans.

I start running all around the restaurant—expertly weaving between all the tables and chairs—and yelling for people to get the hell out of the restaurant as quickly as they can.....in an orderly and timely manner, of course. If some are moving too slowly for my liking, I dash towards them at full speed and just push them out of the emergency exits.

Because you always, always have to be calm and methodical when a crazy person with a fucking gun in their hands wants to kill you. One of the first things they teach you about emergency shooter situations.