Chapter 6 - THE UNEXPECTED LEVERAGE
The blaring red screen illuminated the dark study with the intensity of a strobe light. The men stared at it in stunned silence. Their entire operation, months of meticulous planning and infiltration by Victoria, had just evaporated with a single keystroke.
"You son of a bitch," Cole whispered. He raised the gun, moving the aim from Rosa to Marcus's chest. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you right now."
"Go ahead," Marcus challenged, his voice hard as steel. "Shoot me. But if you do, you don't just leave empty-handed. You leave a corpse. My security is ninety seconds away. The police are right behind them. If you run right now, out the back terrace, through the gardens, and over the south wall, you might just make it to your car before the perimeter is locked down. If you pull that trigger, you will spend the rest of your miserable life in a federal supermax."
Cole hesitated. The logic was undeniable. The money was gone. The only thing left to salvage was their freedom.
"Cole, shoot him!" Victoria screamed, her poise completely shattered, her hair a messy tangle around her face. "We can't leave! The plan—"
"The plan is dead, Vic!" Cole roared, backhanding her across the face. Victoria collapsed onto the carpet with a shocked gasp. "He played us. He knew."
Marcus hadn't known everything, but he wasn't going to tell them that. He had suspected Victoria was a gold-digger; he hadn't suspected she was a corporate saboteur working for his rivals. But the bluff was working.
"Seventy seconds," Marcus said, looking at his watch.
The large man who had been hit with the vase groaned, clutching his head. "Boss, he's right. I hear sirens."
Faintly, slicing through the cold night air, came the unmistakable, high-pitched wail of police sirens approaching the estate.
Panic finally broke the intruders' discipline. The man with the knife bolted for the door, shoving past Victoria on the floor. The large man staggered after him.
Cole looked at Marcus, his eyes filled with venomous hatred. "This isn't over, Whitmore."
"It is for you," Marcus replied.
Cole turned and sprinted out of the study, leaving Victoria behind.
Silence descended on the room, broken only by the wailing of the sirens outside and Lily's soft whimpering. Rosa slowly lowered herself to the floor, her back against the wall, clutching her bleeding arm. She rocked Lily back and forth, kissing the top of the toddler's head repeatedly. "It's okay, mi amor. It's okay. Mama's here."
Marcus rushed over to them, dropping to his knees beside Rosa. He ignored Victoria, who was sobbing hysterically on the rug, frantically trying to find her lost phone.
"Rosa, let me see your arm," Marcus said gently, pulling his expensive silk tie from his collar and wrapping it tightly around her bicep to stem the bleeding. "You're safe. You did perfectly. You saved us."
Rosa looked up at him, her dark eyes wide with residual terror. "They were going to hurt her, Mr. Whitmore. I couldn't let them."
"I know," Marcus said, his voice thick with emotion. He reached out and gently touched Lily's back. The toddler peaked out from her mother's shoulder, her big brown eyes still shiny with tears.
"Mr. Mark?" Lily hiccuped. "Are the bad men gone?"
Marcus managed a weak smile. "Yes, Lily. The bad men are gone. Because of you. You're the bravest girl I've ever met."
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The heavy front doors of the mansion were suddenly blown open with a deafening crash. Heavy boots pounded on the marble floors. Flashlights swept through the darkness, and deep voices yelled, "Police! Show your hands! Clear the perimeter!"
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