Chapter 9 - The Reckoning
Time seemed to slow to an absolute, agonizing crawl as the scene unfolded before me.
Celeste's manicured finger tightened aggressively around the trigger of the heavy, unfamiliar rifle.
She wanted the offshore trust fund money, and she was entirely willing to murder Eleanor in cold blood to get it.
Rosa moved with blinding, lethal, terrifying speed that betrayed her advanced age.
The older housekeeper smoothly drew her hidden revolver and fired a single, absolutely perfect shot.
The bullet struck the rifle right out of Celeste's trembling hands, shattering the metal receiver completely.
Celeste shrieked in sudden, shocking pain as the destroyed weapon fell heavily to the snowy concrete.
Heavily armored FBI agents instantly tackled the younger woman, pressing her face firmly into the freezing, dirty slush.
"Secure the entire perimeter and get trauma medics over here right now!" a senior agent shouted loudly into his radio.
I lay flat on the ice, feeling the warm, sticky blood pooling rapidly beneath my heavy winter coat.
Eleanor dropped to her knees frantically beside me, pressing her faded blue scarf tightly against my bleeding wound.
"Stay with me, Lucian, do not close your eyes," she pleaded, hot tears finally falling from her beautiful, expressive eyes.
"I am so incredibly sorry I ruined our family and broke your heart," I choked out, my vision blurring completely at the edges.
"We are going to build a brand new one, but you have to stay awake for our son," she ordered fiercely, pressing harder on my shoulder.
Paramedics rushed over with a rolling stretcher and large bags of emergency medical supplies.
They lifted my limp body onto the gurney, quickly placing a plastic oxygen mask over my pale, sweating face.
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The flashing red and blue lights of the emergency vehicles faded into absolute, terrifying darkness as I lost consciousness.
I truly did not know if I would ever wake up to see my family again.
