Chapter 9 - The Tarmac Showdown
I kicked the jammed car door open and sprinted across the wet tarmac like a madman.
"Vanessa, stop!" I roared, my voice barely cutting through the deafening whine of the jet engines.
She turned around at the top of the stairs, her eyes widening in genuine shock when she saw me alive.
She dropped the silver briefcase, which popped open and spilled stacks of hundred-dollar bills down the metal steps.
Without hesitation, Vanessa reached into her designer coat and pulled out a black handgun.
She pointed the barrel directly at my chest as I reached the bottom of the staircase.
"Take one more step, Ethan, and I will kill you right here," she screamed.
I stopped moving, my eyes locked desperately on my crying daughter wrapped in a blanket.
"You don't want to do this, Vanessa," I pleaded, slowly raising my hands.
Suddenly, a dark figure sprinted out from underneath the wing of the airplane.
It was Maria, holding a heavy steel wrench she had grabbed from an aviation toolbox on the runway.
Before Vanessa could react, Maria swung the wrench hard against the back of Vanessa's knees.
Vanessa shrieked in pain and collapsed, dropping the handgun onto the tarmac.
I bounded up the stairs and caught Lily just before she could roll down the steep metal steps.
I held my daughter tightly against my chest, shielding her from the chaos unfolding around us.
Dozens of police cars suddenly burst through the broken front gates, their sirens wailing into the night.
Officers swarmed the private jet, leveling their assault rifles at Vanessa and the corrupt pilot.
Two officers grabbed Vanessa by the arms and violently secured her hands in heavy metal cuffs.
As they dragged her down the stairs, Vanessa looked at me with a bloodied, twisted smile.
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"You may have the brat, Ethan," she laughed maliciously.
"But I already wired every single penny of your company's funds into untraceable offshore accounts."
