Chapter 8 - The Fatal Mistake
The red light on the detonator blinked ominously in the freezing ocean wind.
David dragged Elena forcefully to her feet, using her as a human shield against Mitchell's rifle.
He pressed the explosive trigger tightly against her temple, daring the warden to make a move.
Mitchell slowly lowered the barrel of his weapon, calculating every possible desperate scenario.
He tried to reason with the corrupt billionaire, offering to let him take a life raft and escape.
David rejected the offer, stating that leaving witnesses behind was a rookie mistake he would not make.
He planned to lock them all in the lower cabin, arm the bomb on a timer, and escape on the speedboat alone.
He dragged Elena toward the staircase, keeping his wild eyes fixed on the warden.
But David made one massive, arrogant miscalculation in his grand escape plan.
He had completely forgotten about the terrified eight-year-old girl hiding behind the leather sofa.
Chloe had quietly crawled out from her hiding spot while her father was boasting.
She saw the heavy silver pistol that David had dropped on the deck during the knife struggle.
Her tiny, trembling hands picked up the heavy weapon.
She had never held a gun before, but she had watched enough television to know how to aim it.
Chloe pointed the barrel directly at her father's back.
She screamed at him to let her mother go immediately.
David froze, turning his head slowly to look at his own flesh and blood.
He let out a condescending chuckle, entirely unbothered by the threat of a child.
He taunted her, saying she did not have the guts to pull the trigger on her own father.
He turned his body fully toward her, exposing his chest as he took a confident step forward.
Elena screamed for Chloe to run away, terrified of what the monster might do to her.
But Chloe did not run.
She closed her eyes tightly, braced her small feet against the deck, and pulled the heavy trigger.
The recoil threw the little girl backward onto the floor, but the bullet flew perfectly straight.
It struck David squarely in the center of his right shoulder.
He shrieked in absolute shock and pain, dropping the electronic detonator onto the metal deck.
Mitchell did not waste a single fraction of a second.
He lunged forward and kicked the detonator completely over the railing into the dark ocean.
He tackled the wounded billionaire to the deck, pressing his knee forcefully into David's bleeding shoulder.
Mitchell quickly pulled a pair of heavy zip-ties from his tactical vest and bound David's wrists tightly.
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The invincible criminal mastermind was finally captured, brought down by the very daughter he tried to kill.
Suddenly, the piercing wail of police sirens and helicopter rotors filled the morning sky above them.
