Chapter 20 - THE FINAL RECKONING
A single, blinding headlight cut through the thick fog at seventy miles per hour.
A heavy custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle tore down the narrow wooden pier.
Jax swept out from the shadows like a force of nature, his long black hair flying in the wind.
Before Ethan could turn his head, the heavy steel frame of the motorcycle slammed directly into him.
CRASH!
Ethan was launched ten feet through the air, crashing violently into a stack of wooden crates.
His gun clattered across the wet pier planks and fell into the ocean below.
Dr. Evans gasped in horror, dropping her remote control.
Jax slid the motorcycle onto its side, leaping off the moving machine with fluid, deadly grace.
He grabbed Dr. Evans by the collar of her lab coat and slammed her hard against the side of a steel shipping container.
"Game over, Doctor," Jax growled, his voice deep as thunder.
Elena sprinted forward, grabbing the fallen knife from the pier floor.
She quickly sliced through the thick ropes binding Marcus Kane’s wrists.
"Are you alright?!" Elena asked, helping Marcus to his feet.
"I've been better," Marcus rasped, rubbing his raw wrists.
"Where did you find Jax?"
"I didn't find him," Elena said, looking over at the tattooed biker.
"He was tracking Ethan the moment he escaped the European asylum."
From behind the shattered wooden crates, Ethan pulled himself up onto his feet.
His face was covered in blood.
His eyes were completely insane with rage.
He pulled a second concealed blade from his boot and rushed wildly at Jax.
"YOU DIE FIRST, BROTHER!" Ethan shrieked.
Jax didn't flinch.
As Ethan lunged forward with the knife, Jax stepped smoothly inside his strike, grabbed Ethan’s arm, and used his momentum to flip him over his shoulder.
Ethan flew over the low wooden guardrail of the pier.
He plunged downward into the dark, freezing ocean currents below.
SPLASH!
The dark water swallowed Ethan instantly.
The strong, crushing harbor current dragged him down into the black depths beneath the pier.
He did not surface.
Minutes later, the sirens of federal law enforcement vehicles filled the night air.
Dr. Evans was led away in heavy chains by federal agents.
The fog slowly began to clear over the ocean harbor as the first rays of dawn broke over the horizon.
Marcus stood beside Elena at the edge of the pier, watching the sunrise.
"It’s really over this time, Elena," Marcus said softly.
"The Vance empire is gone."
"The truth is out."
Jax walked over, tossing his leather gloves into his motorcycle bag.
"My boy is waiting at the diner," Jax said, a faint, rare smile appearing beneath his dark beard.
"He wants to know if Lily wants to play in the park today."
Elena looked up at the warm golden light of the new morning.
She thought of her daughter waiting safely at home.
She thought of the long, dark nightmare she had survived.
Elena smiled, taking a deep, free breath of fresh air for the first time in her life.
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"Tell him we’ll be there in twenty minutes," Elena said softly.
"We have all the time in the world."
