Chapter 526

The gunshot was quiet—barely audible. It was obvious the weapon was outfitted with a suppressor, making it softer than the pop of a bursting balloon. It was the kind of sound ordinary people would completely overlook. But Ava Quarles? She knew that sound all too well after years of working with weapons. She froze on the beach, her eyes narrowing as she turned against the wind to glance back at the villa's second-floor windows. A sudden darkness swallowed the light from the bedroom. It was 2 a.m., the dead of night when vacationers were supposed to be deep in their dreams. The atmosphere was unnervingly still, with nothing but the ocean breeze stirring the silence. Inside the villa's second-floor bedroom, the quiet was almost suffocating. Vincent Harris was pressed flat on the floor near the bed, holding his breath. Just meters away, the half-open door revealed the lifeless body of a bodyguard who had fallen mid-step. A jagged hole the size of a finger marred his forehead, blood slowly