Chapter 7 - Fire on the Water
I stared at my own brother, disgusted by his ultimate betrayal.
I asked him if his life was really worth the blood of his own niece.
Mark's hand shook violently, but he kept the gun aimed at my heart.
He demanded I slide the flash drive across the wooden floor and walk away.
He promised he would only give Margaret the child, but he would let Emily live.
Emily looked at me, her eyes filled with a fierce, burning determination.
Despite her fever, she had spent the last twenty minutes secretly loosening the ropes around her wrists.
I slowly reached into my pocket, pretending to retrieve the flash drive.
I locked eyes with Emily and gave a subtle nod.
Emily suddenly threw her arms apart, snapping the loose ropes.
She grabbed a heavy flare gun from the marine supply table next to her chair.
She didn't aim it at Mark.
She aimed it directly at the massive, rusted fuel tank of the speed boat docked in the slip beneath us.
She pulled the trigger without a second of hesitation.
The bright red flare shot across the room and shattered the plastic fuel line.
A massive wall of fire erupted upward, engulfing the entire dock in an instant.
The blast knocked Mark backward, sending his revolver skidding across the floorboards.
I sprinted forward, grabbing the gun and shoving it into my belt.
I untied Lily and scooped her into my arms.
May you like
Emily grabbed my hand, and we ran out the side door just as the roof of the boathouse began to collapse in flames.
We didn't look back to see if Mark made it out of the inferno.
