Chapter 8 - The Desperate Strike
The air turned instantly electric. Kieran was on his feet in half a second, his protective instincts snapping into combat mode.
"Flora is right here on the terrace," Kieran said into the phone, his voice steady but deadening. "Where is Julian?"
*"He just realized she’s not at the academy,"* Edward reported, the sound of screeching tires audible in the background. *"He’s completely unhinged, sir. The SEC froze his accounts entirely thirty minutes ago. He has nothing left to lose. He’s driving an armored Suburban toward the estate’s south service road."*
"Lock the blast gates," Kieran commanded. "Annie, take Flora inside to the panic room immediately."
Annie didn't hesitate. She stood up, sprinting across the grass toward Flora. "Flora, sweetie, come with me! We’re going to play the hide-and-seek game in Daddy’s study!"
Flora grabbed Barnaby the puppy and ran into Annie’s arms. Annie scooped the child up, rushing through the glass terrace doors just as a terrifying, thunderous sound shook the perimeter wall half a mile away.
Julian Wells had not tried to negotiate the front gates. In his madness, he had driven the heavy commercial vehicle straight through the wooden service entrance on the eastern edge of the property, crashing into the lower garden fountain.
Kieran didn't retreat to the panic room. Instead, he walked toward the gun cabinet hidden behind the library bookcase. With practiced, lethal efficiency, he retrieved a customized SIG Sauer P320, chambered a round, and walked onto the front lawn just as Edward and three security guards cornered the smoking wreck of the Suburban.
The driver’s door was kicked open.
Julian Wells stumbled out, covered in dirt and blood from the airbag deployment. In his right hand, he held a revolver, his eyes wild, bloodshot, and frantic with ruin.
"Ashbourne!" Julian screamed, waving the gun erratically. "You ruined me! You destroyed my daughter! My family had a seat in this state for two hundred years, and you threw us in the gutter for a whore!"
Edward raised his rifle, but Kieran held up a single hand, stopping him.
Kieran walked forward until he was twenty paces from the crazed old man. The wind blew Kieran’s dark hair across his forehead, his face an absolute mask of stone.
"Drop the weapon, Julian," Kieran said. "You have about ten seconds before the snipers in the tree line put a bullet through your spine."
"Let them shoot!" Julian shrieked, tears of rage pouring down his face. "I lost everything! The bank took the house! The board ousted me! Miranda is going to Rikers Island! And it’s all because of you and that little girl!"
Julian swung the revolver, aiming directly toward the large bay window of the third-floor master suite—where he believed Flora was hiding.
He never got the chance to pull the trigger.
*BANG.*
A single shot cracked through the afternoon air. Kieran had drawn and fired with inhuman speed. The bullet struck Julian’s right shoulder with pinpoint precision, shattering the bone and sending the revolver flying into the grass.
Julian collapsed to his knees with a gut-wrenching howl of agony, clutching his bleeding arm.
Within seconds, Edward and the security team were on top of him, pinning him to the earth, kicking the revolver away, and securing his wrists in heavy steel cuffs.
Kieran lowered his weapon, his breath slow, steady, and utterly calm. He walked over to the groveling, weeping patriarch of the Wells dynasty.
"You should have stayed in your cell, Julian," Kieran said coldly, looking down at him with pure disgust. "Now you’ll spend your remaining years in maximum security. Get this garbage off my property."
As the sirens began to wail in the distance—the sound of the state police arriving to take Julian Wells into permanent federal custody—Kieran turned on his heel and walked back into the house.
He took the stairs two at a time, moving through the library and opening the reinforced steel door of the inner sanctuary.
Inside, Annie was sitting on the floor with Flora wrapped securely in her lap, Barnaby sleeping peacefully at their feet. The moment Annie saw Kieran walk through the door unharmed, the terror left her eyes, replaced by overwhelming relief.
"Daddy!" Flora cried, jumping up and throwing her arms around his legs.
Kieran lifted his daughter into his arms, kissing her hair deeply, then looked at Annie, who was slowly getting to her feet.
"It’s over," Kieran whispered to her. "It’s completely over. They can never hurt us again."
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Annie let out a breath she felt like she had been holding for weeks, and for the first time, she allowed herself to collapse into the circle of his arms.
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