Chapter 7 - The Hostage
The ultimate betrayal paralyzed me for a terrifying, singular second. Lucas had played the role of a desperate, bleeding victim flawlessly. He had used my remaining shred of brotherly compassion to trap me and my wife. My mother laughed, a sharp, cold sound that echoed through the dark mountain trees. She ordered her mercenaries to strip my weapons and bind my hands with heavy zip-ties. I fought back furiously, breaking a mercenary's nose, but there were simply too many of them. They forced me to my knees in the freezing mud, directly in front of my mother. Lucas kept his gun pressed against Elena, dragging her toward my mother's luxury SUV. Elena screamed my name, tears streaming down her pale face as she struggled against my brother's grip. My mother bent down to my level and snatched the bloody USB drive from my jacket pocket. She told me that I had always been too sentimental to survive in the real business world. She instructed the mercenaries to take me to the local river and make sure my body was never found. She then announced that she was taking Elena to a private, syndicate-owned medical facility. They were going to induce labor, take my son, and dispose of my wife immediately after. I roared in absolute fury, thrashing wildly against the heavy plastic ties binding my wrists. My mother turned her back, climbed into her vehicle, and drove away with my entire world. Two massive hitmen grabbed my arms and dragged me toward the dark tree line. They forced me to walk toward the edge of a steep, rocky cliff overlooking the rushing river below. One of the men pulled back the hammer of his silenced pistol and pressed it to the back of my head. He told me to say my final prayers. I closed my eyes, but I did not pray. I reached into my sleeve and gripped the small razor blade I had hidden there since leaving the hospital. I sliced through the thick plastic zip-ties just as a massive gunshot shattered the silence of the forest.
