Chapter 9 - The Final Standoff
Justin let out a cruel, echoing laugh, tossing a fake federal police badge onto the steel table next to the ledger.
He casually explained how he had tracked my movements through the city by hacking into the subway's facial recognition cameras.
"You really thought an old cleaning woman could outsmart me?" he mocked, tightening his grip on my terrified grandson.
He demanded that I hand over the true will and the ledger immediately, or I would spend my final days mourning Lucas.
My heart shattered seeing the tears streaming down Lucas’s pale face, but my mind was incredibly clear.
I slowly reached into the pocket of my cardigan, feeling the heavy, cold weight of the pistol Marcus had given me.
I knew I could not fire a shot without risking Lucas’s life, as Justin was using him as a human shield.
I took a deep breath and slowly placed the will and the heavy ledger onto the polished steel table.
Justin's eyes widened with pure greed, and he momentarily loosened his grip on Lucas to reach for the incredibly valuable documents.
I drew the gun with surprising speed, aiming the barrel squarely at the center of Justin's expensive designer chest.
"Let him go right now, or I will kill you myself," I warned, my voice echoing with a fierce authority I didn't know I possessed.
Justin didn't look afraid; instead, a sickening, triumphant smirk crept across his face.
He slowly pulled his cell phone from his pocket and tapped the screen once.
He proudly revealed that he had rigged the entire underground vault with military-grade explosives earlier that morning.
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He tapped a blinking icon on his screen, linking the detonator directly to a biometric heart rate monitor strapped to his wrist.
He smiled and told me that if I pulled the trigger and his heart stopped, the entire bank would be vaporized, taking me and Lucas with him.
