Chapter 15 - The Cliff's Edge
Mark slowly lowered his handgun to the floor.
"Let the girls go, Sarah," Mark pleaded.
"You have me. Take the money and let them walk."
Sarah laughed softly, a bitter, hollow sound.
"You don't understand, Mark," Sarah said.
"The trust terms state that if the father dies during an escape attempt, the entire estate immediately liquidates to the surviving spouse."
"We don't need them anymore either," Sarah added cold-heartedly.
Lily began to cry again, burying her face into her sister's side.
"You are a monster," Mark said, taking a step in front of his daughters.
"I'm a survivor, Mark," Sarah corrected him.
"Victoria, take the girls down to the SUV," Sarah ordered.
Victoria stepped forward, keeping her gun locked on Mark.
"Move away from them, Mark," Victoria demanded.
Suddenly, a heavy gunshot echoed from the stairwell outside.
BANG!
Victoria snapped her head around in surprise.
A bullet tore through the wooden doorframe, striking Victoria directly in the shoulder.
She screamed and dropped her gun, tumbling back into the hallway.
Marcus burst into the landing, blood running down his left arm.
"Mark! Get them out!" Marcus screamed, firing two more shots down the hall.
Sarah panicked.
She pressed the primary red button on the electronic detonator in her hand.
CLICK.
A high-pitched beep began echoing from the basement below the floorboards.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
"The structural charges!" Marcus yelled. "She rigged the foundation!"
"Run!" Mark screamed, grabbing both Lily and Emma into his arms.
Sarah lunged forward, grabbing Mark's jacket from behind.
"You're not leaving!" Sarah shrieked hysterically.
Mark turned around and shoved Sarah back with all his force.
She stumbled backward through the open French doors leading onto the master bedroom's private balcony.
The rotten wooden railing on the balcony gave way under her weight.
CRACK!
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Sarah screamed as she fell backward into the dark abyss toward the rocks below.
Her voice was instantly cut off by the roaring ocean waves.
