Chapter 7 - The Final Gambit
The inside of the trailer was filled with thick white smoke, the acrid smell of magnesium burning my nostrils.
Elena was on her knees near the leather sofa, her face smeared with soot, weeping in pain as she frantically patted the floorboards with her hands, trying to find the dropped detonator switch.
"Where is it?! Where is it?!" she screamed, her eyes red and streaming with tears.
I stepped through the smoke, my heavy tactical boot coming down hard on top of her outstretched right hand.
CRUNCH.
"AAAGH!" Elena shrieked, her fingers pinned beneath my boot.
"Looking for this?" I said coldly.
I reached down with my left hand, picking up the small black detonator switch from the rug. I pressed the safety latch, pulled out the internal battery, and crushed the plastic casing in my fist, tossing the broken pieces onto the floor.
Elena looked up at me, her face pale, her lips trembling with a combination of rage, pain, and absolute, overwhelming terror.
"Adrien..." she gasped, her voice raspy. "Please... please, I'm your sister-in-law... I'm family!"
"You put a high-frequency weapon in my babies' cribs," I said, my voice dropping into a low, terrifying register that made the blood run cold in her veins. "You murdered my brother. You threatened to blow my children into the lake."
"It was Arthur Pendelton!" Elena lied frantically, her eyes darting toward the open door leading to the boat dock. "He forced me! He threatened to kill me if I didn't get him the source code!"
"Arthur Pendelton is sitting in a federal prison," I replied flatly. "You did this for greed. You did this because you thought you were clever."
I reached over to the sofa, gently pulling back the fleece blanket.
Theo, Miles, and Nora were wide awake now, their big, dark eyes looking up at me. The flashbang hadn't hurt them—the thick backrest of the leather sofa had shielded them from the light and sound.
Theo reached up his small, chubby hand, making a soft gurgling noise, grabbing my gloved thumb.
A tear slipped down my face, washing a track through the gunpowder soot on my cheek.
"Hey, little guy," I whispered softly, my terrifying tone instantly vanishing, replaced by the gentle, fierce love of a father. "Daddy's here. You're safe."
Elena saw my distraction.
With a desperate, animalistic scream, she pulled a small, concealed ceramic boot knife from her ankle sheath and lunged upward, aiming the sharp blade directly at my exposed neck!
"DIE, YOU BASTARD!" she shrieked!
I didn't even look at her.
My left hand snapped sideways with lightning speed, catching her wrist in mid-air, squeezing her arm until her radius bone cracked with a sickening SNAP.
"AAAGH!" Elena screamed, dropping the knife.
I twisted her arm behind her back, slamming her face down onto the hard floorboards, pulling a pair of heavy steel handcuffs from my belt and snapping them tightly over her wrists.
Behind us, the pier suddenly erupted with flashing red-and-blue emergency lights.
Three armored M.E.S. tactical vehicles tore onto Dock 14, followed by four state police cruisers, their sirens wailing through the rain.
Marcus burst through the trailer door, his rifle raised, flanked by six armed security officers.
He took one look at Elena pinned to the floor, then at me holding Theo, Miles, and Nora in my arms.
Marcus let out a long, shuddering breath, lowering his rifle.
"Boss," Marcus said, his voice thick with emotion. "The estate is secure. Maya and Sophie are safe. The police have taken control of the perimeter."
I stood up, holding my three babies close against my chest, feeling their warm heartbeats against my Kevlar vest.
May you like
I looked down at Elena Vance weeping on the floor.
"Take her away," I commanded coldly. "Make sure she goes to a facility where she never sees the sun again."
