Chapter 9 - Hellfire and Checkmate
"Adrian, don't be a fool!" my mother screamed, finally losing her perfect aristocratic composure.
I pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession.
The armor-piercing rounds effortlessly punctured the thick aluminum shell of the fuel tanker.
Sparks from the ricocheting bullets instantly ignited the massive plume of escaping gasoline vapor.
The resulting explosion was catastrophic, turning the quiet night into a raging inferno of orange and red.
The concussive shockwave shattered the bulletproof windows of my mother's armored sedan.
The hidden snipers in the trees were thrown violently from their concealed perches.
Chaos reigned supreme as a wall of pure fire illuminated the flooded highway.
I lunged through the shattered window of the sedan, grabbing my mother roughly by her silk collar.
I yanked her out of the vehicle, pressing the hot barrel of my gun directly against her temple.
"Call them off!" I roared over the deafening sound of burning fuel and screaming metal.
"Order your men to drop their weapons right now, or I will paint this highway with your brains."
She trembled uncontrollably in my grip, realizing she had fundamentally miscalculated my ruthlessness.
"Stand down!" she shrieked into a small radio hidden in her tailored pocket.
The surviving gunmen cautiously emerged from the smoking woods, dropping their rifles onto the wet pavement.
I shoved my mother violently into the driver's seat of her own damaged sedan.
"Elena, get Mia in the back!" I barked, taking the passenger seat and keeping my gun trained on the Matriarch.
"Drive us to the private airstrip," I ordered my mother, pressing the muzzle harder against her silver hair.
She shifted the car into gear, her hands shaking as she steered away from the blazing inferno.
Despite the gun at her head, a wicked, defiant smile slowly crept back onto her face.
"You think you have won, Adrian?" she laughed darkly as we sped down the empty road.
May you like
"The private jet is already rigged with five pounds of plastic explosives."
She was entirely willing to die in a fiery plane crash just to ensure we burned with her.
