Chapter 13 - The Showdown on the Bluff
Richard reached the top of the bluff, winded, his clothes soaked in sweat and dirt, his sleek hair ruined. He stepped onto the grass, raising his gun with shaking hands. His guards were twenty yards behind him, struggling up the steep hill.
"It doesn't matter!" Richard screamed over the sound of approaching sirens. "I am not going to prison! Hand over the locket, Clara, or I swear to God I will end all of you right here!"
Julian stepped in front of Clara and Evelyn, putting himself directly in the line of fire once again. "It's over, Richard. Listen to the road. That’s not county sheriff department. That’s State Police and the FBI. Lily's family tracked her."
"I don't care!" Richard roared, his eyes wild with unhinged desperation. He leveled the gun at Julian’s chest. "If I go down, you all come with me!"
BANG.
A gunshot echoed across the bluffs.
Richard froze. His eyes went wide with shock. He looked down at his shoulder, where blood was rapidly blooming through the fine fabric of his tuxedo jacket. The pistol slipped from his numb fingers, clattering into the grass.
Behind Richard, standing at the edge of the treeline, stood State Police Captain Marcus Vance—Clara’s uncle, Evelyn’s younger brother—surrounded by half a dozen heavily armed tactical officers with rifles raised.
May you like
"Drop to your knees! Hands behind your head! NOW!" Marcus bellowed through a megaphone.
Richard’s guards immediately dropped to the ground, hands raised in surrender. Richard stood frozen for a moment, looking at Evelyn, then at Clara, before slowly sinking to his knees in the damp dirt, his corporate empire and his freedom crumbling around him in the twilight.
