Chapter 9 - The Final Stand
"FBI! Drop the weapon!" a voice boomed over a massive megaphone.
My mother completely ignored the heavily armed agents.
She yanked the door of my SUV open, pointing the gun wildly into the back seat.
When she realized the car was empty, she let out a scream of pure frustration.
Julian immediately dropped to his knees in the mud and raised his hands in surrender.
Sterling tried to run toward the dark shipping containers, but two agents tackled him violently to the ground.
I rushed over to Marcus and quickly untied the thick ropes binding his wrists.
"You actually pulled it off, you crazy lawyer," Marcus coughed, smiling through a bloody lip.
"I sent the cloud footage directly to your director," I explained, helping him stand.
Agents swarmed the area, handcuffing Sterling and Julian without any further resistance.
But my mother was still standing by the SUV, completely surrounded but refusing to drop the gun.
She pointed the weapon at her own head, a manic and desperate look in her eyes.
"I gave you everything, Mateo!" she screamed over the roaring helicopter blades.
"You gave me nothing but control and manipulation!" I shouted back, stepping forward slowly.
"You poisoned my wife and tried to steal my child!"
"I did it to protect our family wealth from that gold-digger!" she cried hysterically.
"You did it because you are a monster," I stated with cold, unwavering finality.
An FBI negotiator tried to approach her, but she aggressively waved the gun at him.
I knew she was entirely too proud to spend the rest of her life in a federal prison cell.
"Do it, Mom," I said softly, calling her bluff.
"Pull the trigger and end your miserable legacy right now."
She stared at me, her hands trembling violently under the bright helicopter spotlights.
She realized I no longer feared her, and I no longer cared about her guilt trips.
Her resolve completely shattered, and she dropped the heavy pistol into the deep mud.
Agents immediately rushed forward and slammed her forcefully onto the hood of the car.
As they locked the handcuffs around her wrists, she glared at me with pure hatred.
"This is not over, Mateo," she spat maliciously.
"Yes, it is," I replied, turning my back on her forever.
I grabbed Marcus's keys and sprinted toward a spare police cruiser.
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I had to get back to the rundown motel immediately.
My wife was going into labor, and I needed to be by her side.
