Page 120 of Death of a Grill Master

She didn’t move.

The tank next to her let out a mechanical bubble blurp, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“I’m actually impressed,” he said, voice closer now. “That whale move? Inspired. If only you put that kind of energy into your cocktail recipes.”

She heard the sound of something scrape—his knife dragging along the glass of one of the aquariums, slow and deliberate.

He was close.

Hayley crept along the back wall and slipped out the opposite door, emerging into another hallway—this one darker, lit only by exit signs.

Her shoes squeaked.

She winced.

Then she ran again.

He gave chase.

She hit the main lab. The fire alarm was across the room.

Forty feet away.

Open, exposed space.

No furniture to duck behind.

She sprinted for it.

Baird rounded the corner behind her. “Don’t!”

She reached out, slammed her palm against the pull lever—

BWWAAAAAAAH.

The alarm shrieked to life, a mechanical scream echoing through the building. Red strobes flashed from the walls. Sprinklers hissed slightly overhead, teasing at activation.

Outside, she saw movement—Mona turning, Earl sprinting toward the door, Maddox still shouting about something but now following.

Baird stood at the edge of the room, breathing hard, knife still in hand.

“You just signed your own death warrant,” he growled.

Hayley met his gaze, shaking but standing tall.

“No,” she said. “I just made sure someone else would finally stop you.”

The doors burst open behind her, and in seconds Earl was between them, gun drawn. Mona followed, shouting her name.

Chief Maddox pushed in last, taking in the scene with his mouth half-open and his usual bluster suddenly gone.

“Drop the knife!” Earl barked.

Baird hesitated—then slowly let the blade fall to the floor with a clatter.

Hayley finally let herself breathe.

She turned to Mona and whispered, “Told you I had a plan.”