Chapter 10 - The Fall into the Channel
""Drop the gun, Richard!"" Sarah yelled, stepping between Julian and the shattered door, raising the heavy iron pry bar with two trembling hands.
Richard didn't even blink. He adjusted his aim by two inches and squeezed the trigger. The gunshot was deafening inside the enclosed brick room, the muzzle flash illuminating the rotting walls in a blinding burst of yellow light.
Sarah gasped, a sharp, choked sound, as the impact slammed her backward into Julian. Julian caught her by the waist, his hands immediately coming away warm and slick with dark crimson. The bullet had caught her high in the right shoulder.
""Get down!"" Julian roared, dragging Sarah backward toward the rear wall where the drainage hatch was exposed.
With a brutal kick, the wooden barricade finally collapsed inward. Two of Richard’s private security contractors rushed into the room, their suppressed submachine guns sweeping the corners. Behind them walked Richard Sterling, his face a grotesque mask of aristocratic rage, the revolver in his right hand smoking in the cold harbor air.
""Give me the tape, Julian,"" Richard said, his voice terrifyingly calm despite the storm howling through the broken door. ""Give me the tape, and I will let your wife and that pathetic child live out their days in peace. Disobey me, and my men will pay a visit to the Oakhaven cottage before dawn.""
Julian’s blood turned to liquid ice. He knows about Oakhaven.
""You're a monster,"" Julian whispered, feeling Sarah’s weight sagging heavily against his ribs. She was losing consciousness, her breath bubbling softly in her throat.
""I am a survivor,"" Richard replied, stepping over the broken timber. ""I built an empire out of grease and iron. I gave you my name, my fortune, and my legacy. And you repay me by digging through garbage left by dock rats.""
""They were my parents,"" Julian spat, his eyes locking onto Richard with a venom that made the older man’s hand twitch on the grip.
""They were obstacles,"" Richard sneered. ""Just like you are right now.""
Richard raised the revolver, leveling it squarely between Julian’s eyes. Julian didn't wait for the hammer to fall.
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Using every ounce of strength left in his body, Julian threw his weight backward, smashing through the rotten wooden planks that covered the harbor-facing window. The frame gave way instantly, shattering out into the void. Julian locked his arms around Sarah’s limp body, tucking her head against his chest as they tumbled backward into the roaring blackness of the ocean channel sixty feet below.
The icy water struck Julian’s back like a concrete slab, knocking the breath from his lungs and plunging him into pitch-black freezing depths.
