Chapter 9 - The Tarmac Showdown
The monitors in the ICU beeped steadily, a sharp contrast to the absolute terror exploding in my chest.
Evelyn had bypassed the legal custody battle entirely and was actively trafficking my children out of the country.
"You are a monster," I whispered, gripping the heavy defibrillator paddle so tightly my knuckles turned white.
Evelyn checked her diamond-encrusted watch and laughed softly, stepping toward the emergency exit at the back of the room.
"I am a survivor, Mara, and those boys are the last valuable assets the Mercer bloodline has left," she taunted before slipping out the door.
I ignored her escape, frantically shaking Damien's uninjured shoulder.
"Damien, please wake up, she is taking our babies!" I sobbed, pressing my forehead against his chest.
His heavy eyelids fluttered, fighting through the heavy narcotics, until his piercing gray eyes finally locked onto mine.
"Mara," he rasped, his voice barely a whisper as he struggled to pull the oxygen mask from his face.
"She is taking them to Switzerland," I cried, helping him sit up despite the fresh blood seeping through his bandages.
Damien's entire demeanor shifted instantly from a critically injured patient to a man possessed by lethal determination.
He ripped the IV line from his arm, ignoring the monitors that began to scream in protest.
"My private jet is parked at the municipal airstrip; she is using my pilot," he grunted, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
We managed to slip out of the hospital through the loading dock, hijacking an idling transport van left by distracted orderlies.
Damien drove like a madman, his face pale and sweating as he pushed the heavy van to its absolute mechanical limits.
We crashed through the chain-link fence of the private airfield just as Evelyn's sleek Gulfstream jet began taxing down the runway.
"Hold on!" Damien yelled, slamming his foot on the accelerator and driving the van directly onto the active tarmac.
He swerved violently, cutting off the massive aircraft and forcing the pilot to slam on the emergency brakes.
The jet screeched to a halt, the massive engines whining down as we leaped out of the van.
Evelyn threw open the cabin door, standing at the top of the stairs with a silver handgun pointed directly at my chest.
"I will kill you right here on this tarmac, Mara!" she screamed, the wind whipping her perfectly styled hair into a chaotic mess.
Before she could pull the trigger, a small, terrifyingly familiar voice echoed from the cabin behind her.
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"Leave my mommy alone, or my dad will shoot you," Ethan announced bravely.
Evelyn spun around in shock, staring at her five-year-old grandson, completely missing the approaching wail of federal sirens surrounding the airstrip.
