"Alex?" the sniper asked, recognizing him from the information he had memorized. Still, even with what he knew, he hadn't expected Alex to be so strong or so fast. Only a few minutes ago, he had seen Alex in the building across the street, so how could he have gotten here so quickly?
"You know me?" Alex asked, frowning at him. Then he shook the rope, reminding the sniper of how precarious his position was. If Alex let go, the sniper would fall.
"Do you expect me to beg for mercy?" the sniper asked. He smiled and let go of the rope.
Alex had expected that and was already throwing another rope, lassoing the man, and stopping his descent. Then he pulled on the rope again, steadily dragging the man back up.
The man struggled desperately, but the more he fought, the tighter the rope became, and he couldn't get free. He had been well and truly caught.
"Let go!" he yelled. "Drop the rope!"
"You don't get to take the easy way out," Alex said, yanking hard on the rope and sending the sniper spilling onto the roof. He wrapped the rope around the sniper, tying him securely. The man coughed, glaring at Alex.
"What's going on?" Alex asked, staring at him. "You don't look smart enough to have planned this by yourself, so who are you working for?"
The sniper threw back his head and laughed. He wasn't even intelligent enough to be afraid.
"You've already lost," the sniper said, smirking.
Alex blinked, and then he realized what the man meant. He put his knee on the sniper's chest, pinning him in place. "What do you mean?" he demanded. "Is there another sniper? Did they send more than one of you?"
"Very clever, but too late," the sniper taunted him, his face twisted into a sneer.
"How many others?" Alex asked. "Where are they?" He would do whatever it took to get a confession from this man.
"I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to," the man said. "I'm just a sniper, and I don't know anything else. I just wanted you to know it's not over. And even if you manage to avoid all the attacks, what about your relatives? You will watch them all die before you join them." He smiled, seemingly unconcerned about his fate.
Alex didn't bother arguing. Instead, he stepped forward, checking the rope was still tight. The sniper was going nowhere.
How can I get him to talk? Alex wondered.
He was still thinking it over when a huge explosion came from across the street.
Alex whipped around to stare at the Clifton building, a sense of dread welling up inside him.
The sniper laughed. "I told you that you'd lost," he said. "Killing me won't bring anyone back. Jessop Clifton is already dead, and he won't be the last. We'll pick off your family, one by one, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Alex couldn't figure out what was wrong with the man that he cared so little about others. Worried about the safety of the Clifton family, he turned back to the sniper and asked, "Do you think this is funny?"
He grabbed the man and hauled him partially upright, wrapping his arm around the sniper's neck. He pulled tighter, choking him.
The sniper struggled, but he was still bound too tightly, and he couldn't get away. His arms were restrained, and he could do nothing to break Alex's hold.
Alex choked him into unconsciousness and left him there.
**
All the staff members had left the building, which had been crawling with police searching for suspicious items. When Alex had run after the sniper, Jessop's bodyguards had snapped into action, taking Jessop to a secure location, and locking it down.
A man wearing a police uniform had rushed at them, and one of the bodyguards had blocked him, but a bomb had exploded nearby, killing two other bodyguards. Luckily, Alex had given instructions in advance, and they had managed to deal with the situation.
**
Jessop, Rufus, and Debbie were all feeling anxious.
It was determined that the bomber had sneaked in, pretending to be with the police. The explosion had killed him and collapsed a large part of the floor. Debris was scattered everywhere.
Alex burst into the room and asked, "Is everyone okay?"
He was relieved to see they were unharmed, but Debbie was very pale, and she was clearly still afraid.
People began to speculate about who could have been behind such an attack. It had clearly been planned, and it was fortunate that the outcome hadn't been worse.
Various groups were suggested as the perpetrators, such as the Steadman family or the Blood Brothers gang, but everyone wanted to hear Alex's opinion.
Alex thought for a moment, and then he said, "This is about me. They're too afraid of coming after me directly, so they're attacking my relatives instead. You should have stayed away from me."
He told them about the sniper.
"I'm not sure who's behind this," he said. "We'll have to wait and see. It's most likely the Steadman family or the Blood Brothers. After all, they're the ones who have lost the most."
Jessop was furious.
"Art has gone crazy!" he said. "He's angry with the Clifton family, and now he's determined to kill us all to get his revenge. We must deal with him once and for all."
When Debbie had returned to Baltimore, the Steadmans had publicly revealed her status as a Clifton, and Jessop would never forgive or forget that.
"Well, now that things have calmed down a little," he said. "Alex and I will go to the office to get a few things."
Jessop kept important papers in his office, and now that the building was unsafe, he wanted to collect them. He would work somewhere else in the future.
"Okay," Alex said, escorting Jessop to the stairway, knowing that the elevators wouldn't be safe to use. As they approached, he spotted Chelsea Wood next to the door to the stairs. Chelsea was in full uniform and accompanied by several other officers.