Chapter Fifteen: One Shot Too Close
1044 Words
The c***k of the gunshot echoed across the lake.
For a split second, neither Nathan nor Amelia moved.
Then instinct took over.
Nathan threw himself toward Amelia.
“Down!”
The force of his body knocked both of them onto the wooden dock just as another shot whistled through the air.
The bullet slammed into one of the support posts, sending splinters flying.
Amelia cried out, covering her head.
“Nathan!”
“I’m okay,” he said, though his heart was pounding so hard he could barely hear himself think.
He wrapped one arm around her, shielding her with his body.
“Stay low.”
The security officers stationed near the trail reacted immediately.
“Gunfire!”
“Move!”
Two officers sprinted toward the tree line while another rushed to protect Nathan and Amelia.
“Mr. Hart, we have to leave. Now!”
Nathan refused to move.
“Not until she’s safe.”
“I’m fine,” Amelia insisted, though her voice trembled.
He looked her over carefully.
Her hands were shaking.
A strand of hair had fallen across her face.
Apart from a tiny scrape on her elbow from the fall, she wasn’t hurt.
Relief hit him so suddenly his knees nearly gave way.
The officers searched the surrounding woods for almost an hour.
Nothing.
No shooter.
No weapon.
Only a set of muddy footprints leading toward an abandoned service road.
Detective Mason arrived shortly afterward.
He examined the damaged railing with a flashlight.
“They weren’t trying to scare you.”
Nathan looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
The detective pointed to the splintered wood.
“The first bullet missed.”
“The second was closer.”
“If your bodyguard hadn’t reached you when he did…”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
He didn’t have to.
Back in the city, the attack dominated every news channel.
BREAKING NEWS: ACTOR NATHAN HART SURVIVES SHOOTING ATTEMPT.
Videos from helicopters circled overhead.
Entertainment reporters mixed speculation with facts.
Some blamed obsessed fans.
Others suggested a business rivalry.
No one knew the truth.
And that frightened Amelia more than anything.
Hart Entertainment immediately tightened security.
The penthouse was placed under constant surveillance.
Every visitor was screened.
Every delivery inspected.
Nathan hated it.
The apartment no longer felt like a home.
It felt like a fortress.
Later that night, Amelia sat alone in the living room.
She couldn’t stop replaying the sound of the gunshot.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Nathan throwing himself in front of her.
The balcony door slid open.
Nathan stepped inside carrying two blankets.
“I thought you might be cold.”
She accepted one quietly.
Neither of them spoke for a while.
Finally, Amelia whispered,
“You could have been killed.”
Nathan looked out over the city.
“So could you.”
“You shouldn’t have covered me.”
He turned toward her.
“I would do it again.”
Without hesitation.
Without regret.
She stared at him.
“Why?”
The question escaped before she could stop it.
Nathan didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he walked closer until only a few inches separated them.
“Because somewhere between pretending to care…”
“…and trying to protect you…”
“I forgot where the acting ended.”
Amelia felt tears sting her eyes.
“Nathan…”
“I mean it.”
His voice was almost a whisper.
“I don’t know what tomorrow looks like.”
“I don’t know who’s behind this.”
“But I know one thing.”
“If anything ever happened to you…”
“I’d never forgive myself.”
Before Amelia could respond, Oliver entered the room.
He looked exhausted.
“I hate interrupting…”
Nathan sighed.
“What is it?”
“We found something.”
Oliver placed a folder on the coffee table.
“It came from our private investigator.”
Nathan opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Not of Amelia.
Not of Nathan.
Of Victor Lang.
The company’s Chief Financial Officer.
He was shaking hands with a man outside a private airport.
The image was grainy, but clear enough to recognize both faces.
Nathan frowned.
“Who’s the other man?”
Oliver slid over another page.
“A corporate raider.”
“Name: Marcus Kane.”
Nathan’s expression darkened.
“The man who tried to buy Hart Entertainment five years ago?”
Oliver nodded.
“And failed.”
Amelia looked between them.
“You think they’re working together?”
Oliver took a slow breath.
“We don’t know.”
“But Marcus Kane has been quietly purchasing shares in companies connected to Hart Entertainment.”
Nathan studied the photograph.
“Victor told me those purchases were anonymous.”
“They were.”
Oliver replied.
“Until now.”
The next morning, Detective Mason arrived with a ballistics report.
“The bullet recovered from the dock…”
He laid the report on the table.
“…matches a weapon used in an unsolved attempted murder three years ago.”
Nathan frowned.
“What case?”
“A journalist.”
“He was investigating corporate corruption.”
Amelia’s eyes widened.
“What happened to him?”
“He disappeared.”
Silence settled over the room.
Nathan slowly looked up.
“This isn’t about celebrity gossip anymore.”
Detective Mason nodded.
“No.”
“I think someone is protecting a secret worth killing for.”
As everyone absorbed the revelation, Nathan’s phone buzzed.
An unknown email had arrived.
No subject line.
Only a single attachment.
A video.
Nathan pressed play.
The footage was taken from inside Hart Entertainment.
It showed a confidential board meeting held two months earlier.
Only seven people had attended.
At the end of the video, someone zoomed in on Nathan’s empty chair.
Then a message appeared across the screen.
You’re looking for the wrong enemy.
The video ended.
Amelia looked at Nathan.
“If Victor isn’t the mastermind…”
Nathan slowly closed the laptop.
“Then someone wants us to believe he is.”
Outside the penthouse, hidden in a parked maintenance van across the street, a pair of binoculars remained fixed on the building.
The watcher smiled.
Every move Nathan made…
Was leading him exactly where they wanted him to go.
- Writer
