Chapter 9 - The Blazing Dock
A brilliant crimson flame hissed to life, casting blinding red shadows across the fuel-soaked wooden docks.
Victoria charged like a feral animal, her eyes wide with madness as she pointed the burning flare at Lily’s face.
“You ruined my life, you filthy little mute!” Victoria shrieked through the smoke.
Lily did not back down or cower behind the doorway.
She grabbed a heavy iron fire extinguisher from the wall bracket and swung it with all her strength into Victoria’s shins.
The heavy cylinder struck with a dull crunch, causing Victoria’s knees to buckle violently beneath her.
The burning flare flew from Victoria’s grip, rolling across the concrete slipway inches away from the spilled gasoline.
Marcus surged forward across the wet dock, closing the distance between himself and Julian Montgomery.
Julian leveled his revolver at Marcus’s chest, but Marcus grabbed Julian’s wrist, twisting the firearm upward.
A deafening shot blew a hole through the corrugated tin roof above them.
Marcus drove his shoulder into Julian’s midsection, tackling the billionaire over the edge of the wooden pier.
Both men crashed into the freezing, dark water of the lake with a massive splash.
Under the surface, Julian clawed desperately at Marcus’s face, fighting with the savage strength of a cornered predator.
Marcus locked his arm around Julian’s throat, using his police tactical training to subdue the struggling tycoon.
He hauled the gasping, spluttering billionaire up onto the floating ladder and shoved him hard onto the wooden deck.
Julian collapsed onto his stomach, coughing up lake water as Marcus clicked steel handcuffs around his wrists.
Sarah rushed to Clara’s side, using a utility knife to slice through the heavy ropes binding the young girl to the chair.
Clara fell forward into Sarah’s arms, weeping uncontrollably as eight years of terror finally broke away.
Lily ran onto the dock, falling to her knees beside Clara and wrapping her arms around her older sister’s neck.
The two sisters clung to each other in the dim light, their foreheads pressed together as their tears mingled.
Victoria crawled across the wet planks toward the edge of the boathouse, her face blackened with soot and rain.
Her high-society mask was completely destroyed, replaced by a hollow, terrifying mask of absolute defeat.
In the distance, the wailing chorus of dozens of sirens tore through the thunderstorm.
Flashing red and blue lights illuminated the trees along the long driveway as State Police cruisers and FBI tactical vans arrived.
The viral broadcast had bypassed the local police chief, mobilizing federal authorities from three neighboring counties.
Victoria rolled onto her back, coughing weakly, and reached inside the torn hem of her designer skirt.
She pulled out a small, waterproof electronic detonator equipped with a glowing green digital timer.
May you like
Victoria laughed, a horrific, broken sound that echoed above the sound of the approaching sirens.
“If I do not get that fifty million dollars, none of us are leaving this boathouse alive,” Victoria sneered, raising her thumb.
