Chapter 9 - The Devil's Bargain
Daniel did not pull the trigger of the heavy weapon.
He stood perfectly still in the rain, holding the rocket launcher leveled at their windshield.
Claire slammed the truck into reverse, but the tires spun uselessly in the slick mud.
Daniel slowly lowered the weapon and raised his empty left hand.
He tapped a small earpiece and spoke a command that Claire couldn't hear.
Suddenly, the Queen's soldiers emerging from the smoke began dropping to the ground.
Daniel's hidden mercenary snipers were systematically taking out the royal death squad.
Within seconds, the immediate area was littered with bodies.
Daniel casually tossed the rocket launcher aside and walked toward the truck.
Richard aimed his weapon at Daniel through the reinforced glass, ready to fire.
Daniel stopped a few feet away and held both hands up in a gesture of surrender.
He shouted over the roar of the engine, asking them to roll down the window.
Claire hesitated, but Richard slowly lowered the glass a few inches.
Daniel looked at Claire with an expression of genuine urgency.
He said he had lied to her about his identity, but not about his intentions.
He claimed he wasn't working with the Queen; he was trying to overthrow her.
His family had orchestrated the gala to force Claire into hiding so they could protect her.
Daniel insisted that if they didn't come with him right now, the Queen would call in an airstrike.
Richard laughed harshly, telling Daniel he would rather die than trust him.
He reminded Daniel that he had attacked the bunker and slapped Claire in the face.
Daniel looked at Claire with deep regret in his eyes.
He said the slap was the only way to activate the tracker before the Queen's assassins arrived at the gala.
He pointed toward a private airstrip visible in the distance across the desert plain.
He told them a smuggler's plane was fueled and waiting to take them to a secure location in Europe.
He promised that once they were safe, Claire could take her rightful place and end her mother's reign of terror.
A loud screeching sound echoed from the dark sky above them.
A military drone was circling overhead, painting the truck with a red targeting laser.
They were out of time and out of options.
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Claire looked at Richard, making the hardest decision of her life.
She told Daniel to get in the back.
