Chapter 3 Three

CHAPTER THREE

The gunshot was loud and Lyra was instantly frightened, she let out a scared yell and quickly ducked to hide behind the car she was leaning on-she didn't know where the shot was fired from and she didn't know if there would be more. She had to be safe.

As she had rightly thought, there was another shot fired into the air and Lyra was so frightened, she had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from screaming again. Since she didn't know who their target was, it was best to remain as silent as possible.

She waited a few moments to hear another gunshot but she heard nothing. She decided to wait for a while before she raised her head up to see if the cost was clear enough for her to run back into the bar.

But just as she peeked her head up, she immediately spotted three men that were dressed in all–black, strapped with guns and in ski masks, passing right in front of her. Lyra instantly panicked, and hastily lowered herself down so that men would not see her.

She ducked again and was able to overhear the discussion of the three men as they passed by. Those were the same voices she had heard arguing with another voice before the gunshot. And now that she thought about it, the other voice did sound kind of familiar. But she couldn't quite place her fingers on who it belonged to.

"Finally, that bastard Ritz is gone." One of them laughed proudly.

"Yeah. After a long while of haunting him down, he's finally out of the way." Another agreed and all three of them laughed in unison.

Lyra's jaw slacked as she gasped in sheer surprise, was she actually hearing correctly? Did they just say the name, Ritz?

What Lyra had heard drove straight into her mind and she instantly sobered up. She was trembling in fear and scared to her bones. She waited until she stopped hearing their voices and she could no longer hear their footsteps and then, she gently stood up, looked around to ascertain that she was alone and began searching around for the person they had shot.

She started to look around the lonely parking lot, but it didn't take her long to find exactly what she was looking for. The sight of it halted her in her tracks and her heart started beating fast against her chest. She contemplated running away, in case the cops would come over and then she'd be in trouble for being at the crime scene.

Her boss, Malcom Ritz, was on the ground, next to his car with a bullet hole gutted right in his stomach. Lyra gasped in shock and then the tears she had been holding back all through the night began flowing freely. She decided it would be better to run away quickly and she went with that thought but just as she was about to turn around, he spoke.

"Lyra...is that you?" He weakly croaked, and coughed out some blood afterwards.

Lyra was joyed to see that he was still alive and she immediately rushed beside him and knelt to his height, "Mr. Malcolm! You're alive! I can get you to a hospital, just give me a moment to call an ambulance."

"Lyra...Lyra...Lyra..." He repeatedly called out her name, life had greatly ebbed out of him and he was already near–death. He knew that calling an ambulance wouldn't do much for him, it was already too late.

"Please, don't speak too much sir. You need to conserve the little energy you still have left." Lyra concernedly said to him as she searched for her phone in her purse to call an ambulance, and the cops.

"Lyra...look at my neck." Malcolm said and Lyra paused, puzzled as to why he asked her to look at his neck. She did so anyway and noted a necklace there. "Take this necklace and keep it." He urged her.

Lyra's forehead creased, "But sir-"

"Ju–just do it Lyra, take it please." He coughed out another splash of blood again. Lyra hesitated for a while but ended up doing as her boss had said and unfastened the necklace.

"I've taken it off sir."

"Listen to me Lyra. I want you to g–guard that necklace...with all your life. Keep it safe please. Make sure no one ever sees this necklace and ma–make sure you don't tell anyone about it. I know you're wond–wondering why I asked you to keep this. Don't worry, the answer...you'll know it very soon." Malcom said to her and went to profusely cough out another splash of blood again.

Lyra looked at the necklace in her hand, it was golden and had a strange pendant at the bottom. Lyra was deeply puzzled by the strange pendant and the fact that Malcom was giving it to her.

Lyra wanted to ask questions or better still, reject the necklace, but she can do all of that after she had gotten him to a hospital and he's recovered.

"Hang on, Mr. Malcom. I'm calling the police now, they'll have an ambulance here for you soon. Just hang on long enough, please" Lyra said to him and got on her feet as she began calling the ambulance and she put the necklace into her pocket.

"Hello? Please, three guys just shot my boss at a bar- Yes, at Brooklyn-No, no the guys ran away after they shot him-Oh thank goodness. We're at the parking lot of Ace Bar." And the line went dead. The police had were on their way with an ambulance.

"They're on their way, Mr. Malcom." Lyra said and waited a moment, but didn't get any answer from him. She looked down at him with arched brows.

"Mr. Malcom...are you hearing me?" Lyra asked and still didn't get any response. She started to panic now, she bent down to his height and shook him slighty. No response. She picked up his arm, and it dropped lifelessly to the floor.

Her breath hitched as a gasp escaped, she gently picked up his arm to check his pulse but she couldn't feel anything. His cold hand slipped out of hers that began to tremble in panic, she was scared, freaking scared- her boss just died before her very eyes, even before the ambulance can get to him.

Who killed him? Why did they want him dead? Why did he give her the necklace and what does the necklace mean? These and many more questions roamed Lyra's head as she stared at her boss, motionless in his own pool of blood.

Malcom Ritz, time of death; 9;49pm

Status: Dead on Arrival.