Chapter 9 - The Sheriff's Fall
The heavy transport truck barrelled down the runway, violently tossing me against the cold metal walls.
The red digital timer on the C4 explosive ticked down to exactly three minutes.
I had planted the charge to destroy the payload, but now I was completely trapped inside the blast radius.
I pulled a high-powered tactical flashlight from my chest rig and illuminated the dark cargo hold.
There was a small, grated ventilation hatch near the roof of the truck bed.
I climbed on top of the titanium payload cases, balancing precariously as the truck swerved wildly.
I drew my combat knife and wedged the thick steel blade forcefully under the edge of the grate.
With a massive surge of adrenaline, I pried the metal cover entirely off its reinforced hinges.
Two minutes remaining on the bomb.
I pulled myself through the narrow opening, emerging onto the flat, rushing roof of the speeding truck.
The freezing wind battered my face as I crawled desperately toward the driver's cabin.
I looked over the edge and saw Sheriff Dominic Vance gripping the steering wheel in sheer panic.
He was driving the truck away from the airstrip to dispose of me before the bomb detonated.
One minute remaining.
I swung myself over the side of the truck, smashing my heavy boot directly through the driver's side window.
Glass shattered violently over Dominic's lap and face.
He screamed, losing control of the steering wheel as the massive truck veered aggressively off the paved road.
I reached through the broken window, grabbed the collar of his uniform, and violently hauled him out of the moving vehicle.
We tumbled together down a steep, muddy embankment, crashing heavily through the dense brush.
The transport truck continued rolling down the hill and slammed brutally into a massive oak tree.
Five seconds later, the C4 explosive detonated.
A blinding fireball erupted into the night sky, completely vaporizing the truck and the stolen payloads.
I pushed myself up from the mud, severely bruised but entirely alive.
Dominic was lying in the dirt, clutching a broken arm and groaning in utter agony.
I walked over, grabbed him by the throat, and slammed him forcefully against a jagged rock.
"The drones are gone, and your empire is completely finished," I growled directly in his face.
"I am handing you over to the feds right now."
Dominic spat blood onto my tactical vest and started laughing hysterically.
"You stupid, arrogant ghost," Dominic choked out, baring his bloody teeth at me.
"Those drones in the truck were just empty metal decoys."
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"The real payloads were loaded onto the jet twenty minutes before you even arrived."
I looked up toward the sky just in time to see Thorne's private jet vanish completely into the dark clouds.
