Chapter 9 - The Kitchen Weapon
The ultimate betrayal by the warm, motherly housekeeper felt like a physical blow to Ren's chest.
Ruth had been the one to override the safe room codes and let the mercenaries inside the mansion.
Damon swayed dangerously on his feet, far too weak from blood loss to raise his own weapon.
"You don't have to become a murderer, Ruth," Ren pleaded desperately, stepping bravely in front of Damon.
"Silas is a psychopath who will absolutely kill you the second he gets what he wants."
Ruth's hands shook violently, her finger hovering dangerously close to the sensitive trigger of the shotgun.
Ren knew she had less than three seconds before the desperate woman made a fatal, irreversible choice.
Ren reached deeply into her chef's apron, which she was surprisingly still wearing over her ruined clothes.
She pulled out a small, tightly sealed glass jar of pure, concentrated capsaicin powder she used for highly spicy dishes.
She hurled the glass jar fiercely at the thick trunk of the oak tree right beside Ruth's head.
The jar shattered violently, sending a massive, blinding cloud of weaponized pepper dust directly into Ruth's face.
Ruth screamed in pure, unadulterated agony, dropping the heavy shotgun as she clawed desperately at her burning eyes.
Ren lunged forward, kicking the weapon far away into the dense, muddy brush.
She grabbed Damon by his uninjured arm and dragged him fiercely toward the hidden gravel road.
"You are absolutely brilliant," Damon gasped, managing a weak, bloody smile in the dark.
They finally reached the edge of the property where Ren's beat-up sedan was hidden in the trees.
She shoved him safely into the passenger seat and climbed frantically behind the steering wheel.
Before she could even insert the key into the ignition, blinding headlights suddenly flooded the small clearing.
A massive, armored SUV blocked the road completely, rendering her escape vehicle entirely useless.
Silas Cole stepped out of the luxury vehicle, holding a beautifully dressed prisoner by the neck.
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"Hello, Ren," Silas mocked cruelly, pressing a silver pistol to the side of his hostage's head.
"I believe you are currently looking for your younger brother, Toby."
