Chapter 9 - The Sole Survivor
The burning wreckage of the plane rained down across the distant tree line like terrible metallic meteors.
I pulled myself out of the muddy ditch, my hands bleeding and my collarbone screaming in agony.
"David!" I screamed into the darkness, my voice completely drowned out by the crackling fires.
I stumbled along the edge of the runway, searching the tall grass for any sign of my brother.
A few yards ahead, a dark figure was lying completely motionless in the dirt.
I ran to him, falling to my knees beside his battered body.
David was unconscious, a massive cut bleeding freely across his forehead, but his chest was rising and falling.
He was alive, but we were stranded miles from the city, and the people who wanted us dead thought they had succeeded.
I pulled his heavy arm over my shoulder, using every last reserve of adrenaline to drag him away from the airfield.
We hid in the dense pine forest just as the screeching tires of Vance’s security vehicles arrived to inspect the crash site.
Through the branches, I watched Vance, the grandmother, and the aunt step out of a black SUV.
Vance was still holding the pink bundle, looking extremely satisfied as he stared at the burning wreckage.
"Make sure there are no bodies left intact," Vance ordered his armed guards.
"I want the narrative to be a tragic mechanical failure."
The grandmother smiled, adjusting her designer coat to keep out the chill.
"Good riddance," she spat, showing absolutely no remorse for murdering her own son.
"Now, transfer the remaining five million to my account, Vance."
Vance chuckled darkly, shifting his weight on his crutches.
He motioned to one of his armed guards with a slight nod of his head.
The guard raised a silenced pistol and shot the aunt directly in the chest.
The aunt collapsed instantly, her greedy eyes wide with permanent shock as she hit the tarmac.
The grandmother screamed in absolute terror, falling to her knees and begging for her life.
"You really thought I was going to leave loose ends?" Vance laughed, patting the pink bundle in his arms.
"You are just as disposable as the surrogate was."
The guard aimed his weapon at the grandmother's trembling head.
Before he could pull the trigger, the dark forest around us erupted with blindingly bright searchlights.
"FBI! Drop your weapons instantly!" a megaphone boomed through the trees.
A dozen armored tactical vehicles burst through the perimeter fence, completely surrounding Vance and his men.
Red laser sights peppered Vance's chest and the guard's forehead.
Vance dropped his crutches in shock, but he held the baby up like a fragile shield.
"Shoot me, and the child drops onto the concrete!" Vance screamed desperately.
A tactical officer stepped out of the shadows, keeping his assault rifle perfectly leveled at Vance.
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"Drop the baby, Vance," the officer commanded calmly.
"Because the bundle you are holding is entirely filled with C4."
