Chapter 27 - The Face in the Flashlight Beam
The intruder let out a choked cry of pain, spinning around and throwing a brutal left hook that grazed Daniel’s jaw, sending him stumbling against the wall. Daniel tasted copper, but his adrenaline surged. He tackled the larger man around the waist, driving him hard into the kitchen island.
Pots and pans crashed to the floor, clattering violently in the dark. The intruder reached into his tactical vest, pulling a combat knife, its serrated blade glinting in the faint moonlight filtering through the kitchen window. He slashed downward, tearing open Daniel's flannel shirt and slicing across his collarbone.
Daniel ignored the searing pain, grabbing the man’s wrist and driving his thumb deep into the nerve cluster on the intruder's shattered arm. The man screamed, the knife slipping from his fingers.
Using his momentum, Daniel drove his knee directly into the intruder’s stomach, then grabbed the heavy cast-iron skillet from the counter and struck the man across the temple.
The intruder collapsed onto the kitchen floor, dazed, bleeding from the scalp, his breathing shallow and ragged.
Daniel snatched the flashlight from the floor and shone it directly onto the man's face. It wasn't a professional hitman from out of state. It was Deputy Mitchell, the young patrol officer who had worked under Detective Ramirez for the past two years.
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Mitchell’s personal phone buzzed violently in his vest pocket. Daniel reached down and ripped it free. The illuminated screen displayed a text message from an unsaved number:
*Did you secure the ledger? The county judge just signed the demolition order for Daniel’s house. Finish it and get out.*
