DUALITY /#Wattys 2021

Chapter 3

**Author's note: Thank you for reading, if you are. I have NO idea how to make a real cover for this or what to put on it even if I did know how. If anyone reading this does, please let me know.

**Okay, I tried a cover. Let me know what you think! And, if you enjoy the story, I'd soooo appreciate a vote! Thank you!!

Ridley spun and shot. A glowing blue bolt from the other guard's pistol blazed over her head. A ceiling light sputtered and threw sparks, then went out.

The guard took a halting step forward. His mouth opened in a jagged square. His hand clasped a singed, bleeding hole in his breast. He staggered forward and collapsed on the carpet. A puddle of red expanded under the body.

Ridley's nerves jangled. Her arms and legs quivered as if she were chilled to the bone.

Devane stared down at the body. His silver brows twitched once as if to transmit to Ridley that nothing she could do could frighten him, but she saw the blood leave his face, and she knew she had the upper hand.

Ridley placed the hot muzzle in the middle of Devane's forehead. The man flinched. The odor of his sweat stung her nostrils.

"I can do the same thing to you," she said, watching his skin redden around the hot barrel.

"How do I know you're not going to kill me anyway?" Devane gripped the arms of his chair until his fingertips turned white.

His gaze flickered behind her at something. The urge to look struck Ridley, but she was afraid to take her eyes off him.

"You don't," she said. "But I wouldn't tempt me if I were you."

"That's over half a billion dollars. No."

Ro gasped. "If I'd had my share of that, I wouldn't still have a hole in my roof and my kids would have heat!"

Ridley lowered her head to stare directly into Devane's eyes. "If you don't do it, your kids won't have a dad anymore and your grandchildren won't have a grandfather. Give us back what you made us work for!"

She lifted the pistol from his forehead and gestured with it, leaving a deep red ring in his flesh. "You divvy up that half billion and add it back into every worker's paycheck before they get deposited at midnight. We're going to stand here and watch every keystroke. Don't tell me the man in charge of the payroll doesn't know exactly how much he's stolen."

Devane's blue eyes drilled hers, then flickered to the top of her head. The pressure of his gaze left her face.

Then she felt the rough fabric of her face mask sliding up her skin and hair. For a second she couldn't see; then a cooling rush of air hit her as it disappeared, pulled up and off her head. She whipped around, sure some unseen guard had snuck up behind to unmask her.

No one was there. Her mask sailed across the room on its own, landing in a black knitted puddle in the corner. "What the—?" Her eyes darted around the room.

With a loud crack, a light fixture came loose from the ceiling and dove right at Ridley, like an aimed missile. She jumped aside with a yell, barely missing a cut from twisted metal as it sliced the air next to her. She aimed her pistol again at Devane's head. But he wasn't looking at her.

He stared hard at the far corner of the room. A torch lamp there tilted as if it were taking a bow. It swung into the air and flew at Ro. He put an arm up and jumped sideways. Ridley flinched as it whistled past.