When she came in that Monday morning, she really wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary. There were a few minor setbacks, but they weren’t anything unexpected. Things get put off on Fridays. This particular Monday, though one of the last, wasn’t going to be any different from any other Monday.

That was until the barrel of a gun was placed firmly against her temple.

She’d never really liked this particular employee. It wasn’t that he didn’t work hard; actually, he was well known for getting his work done on time. It wasn’t that he didn’t work well with others; most of his group projects went smoothly, and when they didn’t, the fault was never his. It certainly wasn’t that he was an unpleasant person; he seemed a fair and decent guy.

No, she didn’t like him because he was just a little too smart, a little too quick-witted, a little too good at finding the errors that no one else found or was willing to point out. She didn’t like him because he had a little too much backbone.

Apparently, too much.