Chapter 6 - THE BETRAYAL
Emily stopped dead in her tracks, her flashlight beam shaking against the asphalt.
“Elias,” she breathed, taking a step backward, pushing me and Junie behind her. “How are you here? You’re supposed to be in federal custody.”
Elias chuckled, a dry, grating sound that sent chills down my spine. “You put a lot of faith in the government, Emily. Did you really think a cartel that launders hundreds of millions wouldn't have federal agents on their payroll?”
He leveled the revolver at my chest.
“Your handler, Agent Harris, was very helpful,” Elias continued. “He let us know you were sneaking onto the yacht. He gave us the coordinates to this island. He even brought me the plane.”
I felt sick. The nightmare hadn't ended on the yacht. We had just driven straight into the final trap.
“Where’s Corinne?” Elias asked, his eyes narrowing.
“She’s on the boat,” I lied, stepping in front of Emily. “Matthew is dead. If you want the company, you need me alive to sign the transfer papers. Let my wife and daughter go.”
Elias shook his head slowly. “I don't care about the company, Adrian. I’m a cleaner. My sister Corinne wanted the money. I just want to finish the job I started two years ago.”
He pulled the hammer back on the revolver with a sickening click.
“Daddy, I’m scared,” Junie cried, hiding her face in my wet shirt.
“I won't let him hurt you,” I whispered into her hair.
I calculated the distance. Ten feet. If I dove at him, he would shoot me, but it might give Emily enough time to run into the jungle with Junie. I tightened my grip on the sand beneath my shoes, preparing to leap.
But before I could move, a blinding spotlight snapped on from the far end of the runway.
A loud, amplified voice echoed over a megaphone.
“FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION! DROP THE WEAPON!”
Elias froze. He squinted into the glaring light. Three black SUVs were barreling down the runway toward us, sirens wailing.
“Agent Harris?” Elias muttered in confusion.
“Harris is in handcuffs, Elias!” the voice on the megaphone boomed. “Drop the gun!”
Elias realized he was trapped. He looked at me, his eyes burning with pure venom. “If I’m going down, you’re coming with me.”
He swung the gun toward Junie.
“NO!” Emily screamed.
She didn't hesitate. She threw herself entirely across my body, shielding our daughter.
BANG.
The gunshot echoed across the island.
Emily gasped, her body going rigid. She collapsed against my chest.
“EMILY!” I roared, dropping to my knees and catching her.
Elias didn't get a chance to fire again. The FBI agents opened fire from the approaching SUVs. Elias was hit in the shoulder and the leg. He fell to the tarmac, screaming in agony as agents swarmed him, kicking the gun away and pressing his face into the asphalt.
I didn't care about him. I fell to the ground, pulling Emily into my lap. Blood was soaking through her heavy rain slicker.
“Emily, look at me. Keep your eyes on me!” I panicked, pressing my hands frantically against her side to stop the bleeding.
She winced, reaching a trembling hand up to touch my face. “Adrian...”
“Medic! I need a medic!” I screamed toward the agents.
Junie knelt beside us, crying hysterically. “Mommy, don't go to sleep! Wake up!”
Emily turned her head slightly, offering a weak, painful smile to our daughter. “I’m not... going anywhere... ladybug.”
An FBI medic rushed over, carrying a trauma kit. He shoved me aside gently and ripped open Emily’s slicker.
He pressed a heavy gauze pad against her side.
Then he paused. He looked down at the wound, then up at me, a confused expression on his face.
“Sir,” the medic said, reaching his fingers into the torn fabric of her rain jacket.
He pulled out a heavy, flattened piece of metal.
It was a thick, steel-cased tracking beacon the FBI had sewn into her jacket to monitor her location. The bullet had struck the solid metal box, shattering it, but stopping an inch before it pierced her abdomen.
The blood was just a deep graze from the shrapnel.
“She’s going to live,” the medic announced, taping a bandage over her side. “It’s a flesh wound.”
I collapsed backward onto the tarmac, staring up at the starry sky, laughing and sobbing at the same time. I pulled Junie into my arms, and Emily sat up slowly, wrapping her arms around both of us.
We sat there on the runway, a tangled, wet, bleeding mess of a family, holding onto each other like we would never let go.
“It’s over,” Emily whispered into my neck. “It’s finally over.”
But as I looked past her shoulder, I saw an agent pulling Elias to his feet.
May you like
Elias looked directly at me. He was bleeding, defeated, and bound for federal prison. But he was smiling.
“It’s not over, Adrian,” Elias spat over the roar of the engines. “Corinne is still out there. And she knows where your mother lives.”
