Chapter 9 - The Final Stand
Marcus walked slowly toward them, his boots echoing ominously on the wooden planks of the pier.
He looked down at the bleeding, broken mafia boss and laughed with genuine amusement.
He mocked Elias, saying that a ruthless king was finally going to die in the mud because of a pretty maid.
Elias tried to push himself up to fight, but his body completely refused to obey his commands.
He looked at Nakia, his heart breaking at the thought of leaving her at the mercy of this monster.
Marcus aimed his pistol directly at Nakia's head, deciding to punish Elias by killing her first.
Nakia did not flinch, cower, or beg for her life.
She stared fiercely at the traitor and slowly reached her hand behind her back.
She had secretly kept the heavy steel wrench she used to open the hydraulic valve at the auto shop.
As Marcus prepared to pull the trigger, Alexei suddenly lunged forward from the shadows.
The wounded scout tackled Marcus at the knees, throwing off his lethal aim.
The gun discharged wildly into the night sky, giving Nakia the opening she desperately needed.
She swung the heavy steel wrench with all her might, striking Marcus squarely across the jaw.
The traitor collapsed onto the wooden pier, completely stunned by the brutal, unexpected blow.
Elias used the last ounce of his fading adrenaline to drag himself across the bloody wood.
He grabbed Marcus's dropped pistol and pressed it firmly against the traitor's chest.
He pulled the trigger twice, ending the brutal mutiny once and for all.
The sound of the gunshots echoed across the silent harbor, followed only by the crashing waves.
Elias dropped the weapon, his entire body finally giving out as the darkness closed in around him.
Nakia fell to her knees beside him, pressing her forehead against his chest as she cried.
He reached up with a trembling hand and gently wiped a tear from her beautiful face.
"I love you, Nakia," he whispered, finally confessing the truth he had hidden for months.
May you like
His eyes rolled back, and his hand fell limply to the wooden pier.
Nakia screamed for help just as a black medical van screeched to a halt at the end of the dock.
