Chapter 9 - THE LAST DESPERATE STRIKE
However, a wounded animal is most dangerous when it has lost everything.
Grant Sterling had spent the last two months living in a cheap, rodent-infested motel on the outskirts of Tacoma. His accounts were frozen, his assets seized, and his name was blacklisted across every corporate board in North America.
He had developed a toxic, obsessive delusion: he believed that if Noah Whitaker died, the debt would disappear, the contracts would be voided, and Emma would be forced to return to him with their child.
It was a Tuesday afternoon.
I was walking through the underground parking garage of the Olympic Residences, accompanied by two of Noah's top bodyguards, Marcus and Lev. I had just finished buying some newborn supplies at a high-end boutique downtown and was heading toward the private elevator to go back up to the penthouse.
Suddenly, the garage lights flickered and died, plunging the lower level into dim emergency lighting.
BANG!
A loud gunshot echoed through the concrete structure.
Marcus went down instantly, clutching his leg as blood pooled on the concrete.
"Get behind me, Emma!" Lev shouted, pulling his firearm and standing in front of me.
Out from behind a concrete pillar stepped Grant Sterling.
He was unrecognizable. His hair was matted, his clothes filthy, his face gaunt and unwashed. In his trembling hands, he held a dark revolver, his eyes wild and bloodshot.
"Grant!" I gasped, backing away in horror.
"Emma... my sweet Emma," Grant laughed hysterically, stepping over the oil stains on the floor. "I knew I'd find you here! That bastard Whitaker thinks he can take my life? He thinks he can take my family?!"
"Grant, put the gun down!" I pleaded, my heart hammering against my ribs. "You're going to get yourself killed!"
"He ruined me, Emma!" Grant shrieked, tears and dirt streaking his face. "He took my money! He took my car! He took my daughter! But if I kill him... if I kill his security, everything goes back to normal! We can be a family again, Emma! Just like before!"
"You're insane!" I yelled. "You abandoned me in the rain! You left Maya to die!"
"I DID IT FOR US!" Grant screamed, aiming the revolver directly at Lev's head. "Now move out of the way, guard, or I'll put a hole through your brain!"
Lev didn't flinch. He raised his own weapon, targeting Grant's chest. "Drop the weapon now, Sterling."
"DIE!" Grant yelled, pulling the trigger.
BANG!
Lev returned fire simultaneously, but before Grant's bullet could hit Lev, a heavy black SUV tore around the corner, slamming its side directly into Grant at forty miles an hour.
CRASH!
Grant was thrown into the air, flying ten feet before crashing violently onto the hard concrete floor, his revolver spinning away into the darkness.
The SUV screeched to a halt.
The driver’s door opened, and Noah Whitaker stepped out.
He didn't look frantic. He didn't look scared. He walked toward the broken body of Grant Sterling with slow, lethal grace.
Grant lay on the concrete, gasping for air, several of his ribs broken, blood coughing from his lips. He looked up at Noah, horror washing over his unhinged face.
"W-Whitaker..." Grant wheezed, trying to crawl away.
Noah stopped, standing directly over him. He reached into his belt and pulled out a custom silver pistol. He didn't point it at Grant’s head. He pointed it down at Grant's left foot—the foot he had used to walk away from me in the rain.
BANG.
Grant let out a blood-curdling shriek of agony, screaming as his foot was shattered.
"That is for leaving her on the sidewalk," Noah said, his voice flat, icy, and terrifying.
BANG.
Grant screamed again, curling into a fetal position as his right knee exploded in pain.
"That is for threatening my family," Noah added.
Noah slowly raised the gun, pointing it directly between Grant's eyes.
"Noah, no!" I cried out, rushing forward, grabbing Noah's arm. "Don't do it! Don't ruin your life for him! He's not worth it!"
Noah froze. He looked down at me, his gray eyes dark with lethal fury. But as he saw the tears in my eyes, the cold violence in his posture slowly began to thaw.
Noah lowered the weapon.
He looked down at the bleeding, sobbing mess that was Grant Sterling.
"You are going to spend the rest of your life in a maximum-security state penitentiary for attempted murder, terrorism, and corporate fraud, Sterling," Noah said quietly. "You will never walk normally again. You will never see a dime of money again. And you will never, ever see your daughter again."
May you like
Noah turned his back on Grant, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, shielding me from the violent scene as dozens of police cruisers and tactical teams flooded the underground garage.
Grant’s screaming echoed through the concrete walls as he was pinned down by federal agents, dragged away into the dark forever.
