Story Branch
Wilson
glanced
at
his
watch
anxiously.
The
seconds
felt
like
minutes,
the
minutes
like
hours.
He
tried
to
bring
his
focus
back
to
the
present
moment,
back
the
task
at
hand.
Try
as
he
might,
though,
he
could
not
stop
the
fear
from
creeping
in,
from
taking
over.
He'd
been
over
this
scenario
in
his
head
a
thousand
times,
but
every
way
he
looked
at
it
this
was
going
to
end
in
disaster.
Still,
what
choice
did
he
have?
The
only
other
alternative
was
unthinkable,
and
would
probably
lead
to
his
untimely
demise.
The
secretary
returned
from
the
office.
"Ms.
Sandberg
will
see
you
now."
She
gestured
towards
the
grand
double
doors,
which
were
now
open
for
him.
This
was
it.
All
or
nothing.
[p]
"So
you
finally
made
a
decision
about
my
offer"
snarked
Sandberg
in
her
usual
menacing
tone.
"Something
like
that",
Wilson
bit
back,
defiantly.
He
reached
into
his
jacket
pocket
and
pulled
out
a
revolver
which
he
aimed
squarely
at
Sandberg's
incredulous
face.
"Do
you
honestly
thi"...
began
Ms.
Sandberg
but
her
sentence
was
cut
short
by
a
bullet
to
the
face.
[p]
Wilson
shook,
still
holding
his
gun
in
his
hand
stretched
out
towards
where
Sandberg
had
stood
just
a
moment
ago.
Her
lifeless
body
slid
down
against
her
desk
and
slumped
to
the
floor.
For
a
moment
Wilson
just
stood,
having
both
fired
a
gun
and
taken
a
life
for
the
first
time
in
one
small
pull
of
a
trigger.
But
as
one
life
ended,
his
had
now
begun.
That
is,
if
the
next
steps
of
his
plan
went
smoothly.
Slowly,
he
turned
to
face
Sandberg's
secretary
who
stood
frozen
but
screaming
hysterically
in
the
door
way.
He
raised
the
pistol
again
and
for
the
second
time
in
his
life,
took
someone
else's.
[p]
He
hesitated.
But
only
for
a
moment.
He
allowed
the
reality
of
his
new
identity
wash
over
him.
But
then
it
was
straight
back
to
business.
With
his
new
role
in
the
world
it
had
become
kill
or
be
killed.
[p]
Wilson
stepped
behind
Sandberg's
desk,
nudging
her
lifeless
corpse
out
of
the
way
with
one
hard
push
of
his
boot.
Frantically
he
began
to
search.
He
started
tearing
through
her
desk.
Every
draw
was
opened,
yanked
out,
and
tossed
violently
to
the
floor
as
he
searched
fervently.
"It
had
to
be
here
somewhere"
Wilson
thought
to
himself
as
he
tossed
aside
folders
and
papers.
In
the
distance
a
familiar
ring
sounded
the
elevator
arriving
on
this
floor.
This
meant
somebody
had
just
arrived
and
would
soon
see
the
unfortunate
mess.
The
drawers
did
not
appear
to
contain
what
he
was
looking
for.
The
enormous
sparse
office
did
not
appear
to
offer
anything
else
in
the
way
of
hiding
places.
He
was
running