Chapter 14 - The Ledger of Sins
Through the smoke and rubble of the blown vault wall stepped Arthur. His face was scorched, his ribs tightly bound in duct tape over a blood-soaked shirt, and in his hands was a tactical shotgun.
""Arthur!"" Elena cried.
""Drop the weapon, Julian!"" Arthur's voice boomed through the ruined lobby.
Julian spun around, firing a burst from his rifle. Arthur dove behind a thick marble pillar as concrete chips exploded into the air. In the chaos, Vivienne scrambled out from beneath Elena's grip, lunging for her dropped handgun on the floor.
Elena didn't hesitate. She swung her sidearm and fired a single, clean shot into the floor inches from Vivienne's fingers, shattering the weapon's slide.
""Don't touch it,"" Elena warned.
Meanwhile, Julian advanced on Arthur's pillar, firing relentlessly. ""You should have stayed dead, old man! You're an obsolete relic of my father's era!""
""Your father had honor, boy,"" Arthur shouted back from behind the pillar, his shotgun clicking as he chambered a fresh shell. ""You're just a spoiled child with an inheritance.""
Julian rounded the corner of the pillar, weapon raised. But Arthur was faster. He swung the heavy barrel of the shotgun upward, striking Julian across the temple with bone-shattering force.
Julian collapsed to the marble floor, his rifle clattering away into the debris, dazed and bleeding profusely from a split brow.
Arthur stood over him, breathing heavily, the shotgun trained squarely on Julian's forehead.
May you like
""It's over, Miss Elena,"" Arthur said quietly, without taking his eyes off Julian. ""The local state police and the FBI are outside. I transmitted the contents of that thumb drive to every federal bureau within five hundred miles before I breached the back door.""
Siren wails began to fill the street outside, red and blue lights flashing against the shattered glass facade.
