Chapter 19 - The Final Echo
The desolate, abandoned airstrip on the outskirts of the city was completely shrouded in a thick, freezing midnight fog.
Tessa sat alone in the back of a luxury town car, her heart pounding violently against her ribs as the vehicle idled on the cracked tarmac.
Right on schedule, a heavily armored SUV violently smashed through the rusty chain-link fence, completely blocking the town car's exit.
Dante stepped out into the freezing fog, holding a massive, highly customized assault rifle, a maniacal, victorious smile twisting his face.
"Get out of the car, sweetheart!" Dante screamed into the darkness, completely believing he had finally won the ultimate prize.
Tessa didn't panic. She calmly unlocked the door and stepped out into the freezing wind, standing tall and completely unafraid.
"You really thought Salvatore could protect you out here?" Dante sneered, raising his weapon directly at her chest.
"I don't need Salvatore to protect me," Tessa replied coldly, her voice echoing loudly across the empty airstrip.
"I am the one protecting him from you."
Before Dante could comprehend her defiant words, a blinding array of high-intensity floodlights suddenly illuminated the entire airstrip.
Dante squinted, completely blinded by the massive, overwhelming light.
From the thick fog, Salvatore stepped forward, completely surrounding Dante with over fifty heavily armed, elite tactical operators.
Dante’s arrogant smirk instantly vanished, entirely replaced by the cold, horrifying realization that he had been completely outsmarted.
He wildly aimed his rifle, desperate to take Tessa down with him, but Salvatore moved with blinding, supernatural speed.
Salvatore fired a single, deafening shot from his customized pistol, entirely shattering Dante’s right kneecap.
Dante collapsed to the wet tarmac, screaming in absolute agony, dropping his weapon completely out of reach.
Salvatore walked slowly toward his brother, his face a terrifying mask of absolute, unforgiving judgment.
"Speak to me, you silent freak!" Dante spat violently, coughing up a mixture of blood and rain.
"Tell me you are going to kill me!"
Salvatore stood entirely over his broken, pathetic brother, completely unbothered by the desperate, venomous insults.
He raised his hands slowly, signing his final, definitive judgment.
May you like
You are absolutely nothing to me.
Salvatore turned his back completely, leaving Dante screaming in the dirt as the wailing sirens of the federal task force approached to lock him away forever.
