Chapter 10 - The Reckoning
Grant stared at the weapon in his hand in absolute shock.
He pulled the trigger again.
Click.
Click.
"Tessa," I breathed out, realizing what had happened.
Tessa scrambled away from him, a dark bruise forming on her cheek, but a fierce smile on her lips.
"I took the bullets out when you were in the shower at the hotel," she choked out.
"I knew you were going to use it on someone."
Grant roared in frustration and threw the useless gun at the ground.
He lunged toward me, but a blinding spotlight suddenly illuminated the entire clearing.
"FBI! Freeze!"
Dozens of armed agents swarmed the trees, their weapons raised.
Natalie had regained consciousness and used the car's emergency system to dispatch law enforcement.
Grant was tackled to the dirt, screaming obscenities as they slapped heavy steel cuffs on his wrists.
I dropped to my knees and pulled Owen and Lily into a desperate, crushing hug.
It was finally over.
Six months later, the nightmare felt like a distant memory.
Grant was serving a thirty-year sentence for fraud, embezzlement, and attempted murder.
The Vargas syndicate had been dismantled using the server data I recovered.
I had regained full custody of my children, reclaimed my financial independence, and started my own boutique risk analysis firm.
We were safe, happy, and finally free to rebuild our lives on our own terms.
I sat in my new sunlit office, sipping coffee as I sorted through the morning mail.
I opened an unmarked envelope forwarded from our old address.
Inside was a single, crisp white card with an embossed black crest.
I flipped it over and read the handwritten note on the back.
"Grant was just the middleman, Mara."
May you like
"You still owe us five million dollars."
"See you soon."
