Chapter 7 - The Reunion
The blinding light of the flashlight made it impossible to see the tears streaming down Lucas's face.
He was looking at the beautiful woman he had mourned and grieved for five agonizing years.
Elena slowly lowered the heavy shotgun, her hands shaking as she recognized her husband and daughter.
She dropped the weapon entirely and practically leaped across the small boat to embrace them.
Lily cried hysterically, burying her face deeply into the neck of the mother she barely remembered.
Lucas wrapped his arms around both of them, sobbing into Elena's damp, tangled hair.
He desperately asked her why she had never reached out or told him that she survived the fiery crash.
Elena explained that Marcus had placed a devastating bounty on Lily's head to secure his own legacy.
She knew that faking her death was the only absolute way to keep the dangerous syndicate away from her child.
For five years, she had worked tirelessly from the shadows to hack into Marcus's heavily encrypted offshore servers.
She patted a small, waterproof backpack sitting on the passenger seat of the boat.
Inside the bag was a specialized USB drive containing all the financial evidence needed to put Marcus away for life.
They just needed to deliver the drive to a specific, trusted FBI director in the city center.
Arthur interrupted the emotional reunion, reminding them that heavily armed men were still hunting them.
He moved toward the driver's seat to start the powerful boat engine and escape the dark pier.
But as Arthur passed the waterproof backpack, his demeanor suddenly changed in a terrifying instant.
He snatched the heavy bag and quickly retrieved the pump-action shotgun from the floorboard.
He aimed the wide barrel of the gun directly at Elena's chest, a wicked smile spreading across his bearded face.
Arthur revealed that he never actually cared about revenge against Vanessa or saving innocent lives.
He simply wanted the encrypted USB drive so he could drain all of Marcus's stolen billions into his own accounts.
He ordered them to step off the boat and swim back to the warehouse to face their impending deaths.
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Lucas realized they had just traded one evil monster for another in this endless game of betrayal.
Arthur cocked the shotgun with a loud, metallic clack, completely ready to eliminate the entire family.
