Chapter 8 - The Edge of the Water
The path to the lake was a steep, rocky descent through dense pine trees. Lightning split the sky every few seconds, casting jagged, ghostly shadows over the churned mud.
Elena reached the wooden boardwalk of the boathouse just as the roar of an inboard twin-engine motor tore through the roar of the thunder.
Inside the covered dock, Victoria was fumbling frantically with the heavy mooring ropes, a water-resistant baby carrier strapped tightly across her chest. Leo’s muffled screams were barely audible over the roaring engine.
"Victoria! Stop!" Elena screamed, launching herself onto the wooden platform.
Victoria spun around, her eyes bloodshot and crazed, her designer clothes caked in filth and rain. She pulled a small, silver snub-nosed revolver from her coat pocket, pointing it straight at Elena’s forehead.
"Stay back, you filthy parasite!" Victoria shrieked over the engine’s drone. "He is my ticket to the Vance estate! Without him, I walk away with nothing! I will put a bullet in your head before I let you take him!"
"Look at him, Victoria!" Elena yelled, stepping forward despite the gun barrel leveled at her eyes. "You don't love him! You’re putting him in danger in the middle of a storm! If that boat flips on the lake, he won't survive!"
"I don't care!" Victoria’s hand shook violently against the grip of the weapon. "If I can't have the Vance empire, Marcus won't have his heir either!"
A heavy shadow dropped from the boathouse rafters above.
Marcus landed hard on the wooden deck behind Victoria, sweeping his leg low across the slick boards. Victoria’s legs were knocked out from under her, and she crashed down onto her hip. The gun discharged with an ear-splitting BANG, the bullet ricocheting off the steel roof beams.
As Victoria hit the floor, Elena dove forward onto the wet boards, sliding on her knees and catching Leo’s carrier just as Victoria’s fingers slipped from the straps.
Elena unclipped the baby in half a second, rolling away and shielding him completely with her body.
Marcus pinned Victoria’s wrists against the dock, twisting the gun out of her grip and kicking it into the deep, dark lake water below. "It’s over, Victoria. You’re done."
Victoria screamed in pure, helpless rage, thrashing against the dock planks like a venomous snake pinned beneath a boot.
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Elena scrambled to her feet, clutching Leo tightly against her chest, checking every inch of his shivering body. He was crying, cold and wet, but breathing steadily.
Then, headlights pierced the trees above the boathouse path. Three state police cruisers came tearing down the gravel trail, sirens wailing into the night.
