Chapter 8 - The Desperate Stand
The heavy SUV smashed violently into the steel scaffolding, sending heavy pipes raining down on the corrupt deputies.
The armed men scattered in sheer, chaotic panic, completely abandoning their perfect circle around us.
Wade dropped the lethal syringe instantly, stumbling backward awkwardly to avoid a falling steel beam.
David dove immediately into the mud, retrieving his weapon and firing two loud warning shots into the air.
"Get in the car right now!" Lucy screamed from the driver's window, the windshield completely shattered from the impact.
I scrambled frantically to my feet, grabbing David's hand as we sprinted toward the idling vehicle.
Wade recovered his balance quickly and raised his handgun, aiming directly at Lucy's exposed head.
Before he could pull the trigger, the passenger door of the SUV was kicked violently open.
Mom stepped out into the mud, wearing her heavy blue wool coat and a look of absolute, burning fury.
She was holding a bright orange flare gun she had found hidden in the doctor's emergency roadside kit.
"Leave my children alone, Wade!" Mom screamed with a powerful voice I hadn't heard in twenty years.
Wade froze in place, lowering his weapon slightly in pure, undeniable disbelief at the sight of her.
"Put that plastic toy down, old woman, before you hurt yourself," Wade mocked, taking a confident step forward.
Mom didn't hesitate for a single, solitary second.
She aimed the flare gun directly at the massive diesel fuel tank Wade had been standing next to.
She pulled the heavy trigger, sending a blinding red fireball screaming across the dark construction site.
The flare struck the rusted metal valve of the tank, igniting the highly flammable leaking fumes instantly.
A massive explosion rocked the foundation, sending a shockwave of heat that knocked us all to the muddy ground.
The corrupt deputies dropped their weapons in terror and fled for their lives into the surrounding dark woods.
Sheriff Watkins tried to run away, but David tackled him fiercely, snapping a pair of steel handcuffs onto his wrists.
The massive flames illuminated the entire site like daylight, casting long, terrifying shadows against the bare concrete.
I looked around frantically, desperate to make sure my entire family was safe from the blast.
Mom was sitting calmly in the mud, breathing heavily but entirely unharmed by the explosion.
Lucy rushed over and hugged her grandmother tightly, sobbing tears of overwhelming, pure relief.
But as the thick, black smoke slowly cleared from the foundation, I realized something horrifying.
Wade was completely gone from the blast zone.
He had used the chaotic explosion to slip away entirely unnoticed into the dark night.
David searched the immediate area, finding Wade's discarded jacket lying near a concrete drainage pipe.
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"He is heading straight for the county airport," David yelled, reading a flight itinerary that fell from the pocket.
"He has a private charter scheduled to leave the country in exactly thirty minutes."
