Chapter 3 - The Shipping Yard
Theodore stood in the shadows of the massive, rusted shipping containers.
The salty air of the Houston port stung his eyes, but he refused to blink.
He had explicitly told Victor to stay behind and keep the police away.
He could not risk Brianna making good on her horrific threat against his infant sons.
He gripped the heavy steel crowbar in his right hand and stepped into the dim light of a flickering overhead bulb.
Brianna was standing at the edge of the concrete pier, surrounded by three armed mercenaries.
Gabrielle was kneeling on the hard concrete, her hands bound tightly behind her back with thick zip ties.
The two tiny babies were strapped securely to her chest in their cloth slings, crying softly in the cold wind.
"I really thought you were smarter than this, Theo," Brianna sneered, adjusting her expensive silk coat.
"You ruined everything by hiring that pathetic private investigator."
Theodore ignored her completely and locked his eyes on Gabrielle.
Her beautiful face was bruised and covered in soot from the explosion, but her gaze was incredibly fierce.
"I am so sorry, Gabrielle," Theodore whispered, his voice cracking with immense guilt.
"I will never let anyone hurt you or our children ever again."
Gabrielle did not say a word, but a single tear slipped down her dirty cheek.
Brianna laughed a high, grating sound that echoed across the empty harbor.
"How incredibly romantic," Brianna mocked, pulling a sleek silver pistol from her designer purse.
"But you are not here to save them, Theo."
She pointed the weapon directly at Theodore's chest.
"You are going to sign the entire Callahan real estate empire over to my holding company tonight."
One of the heavily armed mercenaries stepped forward and shoved a digital tablet into Theodore’s chest.
"Sign the documents, or I shoot the woman and the bastards right now," Brianna threatened.
Theodore raised his hand and pressed his thumb against the biometric scanner on the tablet.
He transferred billions of dollars of wealth to her in a single heartbeat to save his family.
Brianna smiled victoriously and checked her phone to confirm the massive wire transfer.
"Thank you for your generous donation, Theo," Brianna said with a wicked grin.
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"Now, kill them all and dump their bodies in the water."
The mercenaries raised their assault rifles, aiming the laser sights directly at Gabrielle and the babies.
