Chapter 8 - The Hostage Situation
I stared at Arthur in complete disbelief.
"He kidnapped his own mother and sister?" I asked, my voice rising in panic.
Arthur showed me a frantic text message he had just received from an unknown number.
It was a picture of Diane and Melissa tied to chairs in a dark, unfinished basement.
"He knows the police are coming for him, and he is completely desperate," Arthur explained.
Mark was demanding two million dollars in untraceable cryptocurrency by midnight.
If the trust did not release the funds, he threatened to burn the building down with them inside.
I felt a sudden, sharp sting of guilt, even though they had been entirely horrible to me.
No one deserved to be treated like disposable pawns by their own family member.
"Where is he holding them?" I asked, trying to keep my hands from shaking.
I studied the background of the dark photograph closely.
There was a distinct water stain shaped like a crescent moon on the concrete wall behind Diane.
"I know exactly where they are," I gasped, recognizing the horrible basement.
It was the abandoned rental property Melissa had purchased last year before her business went bankrupt.
I immediately grabbed Arthur's arm and pulled him toward his luxury sedan.
"Call Detective Miller right now and tell him to send a tactical team to the old Miller Street property," I ordered.
Arthur dialed the police while speeding through the rainy city streets.
We parked two blocks away, watching silently as silent police cruisers surrounded the rotting house.
Officers in heavy tactical gear stacked up quietly against the front door.
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Suddenly, a loud gunshot shattered the quiet neighborhood.
A second later, Mark stumbled out of the front door, covered in blood and holding a weapon.
