Chapter 15 - The Ocean’s Judgment
Julian dragged his gasping, broken uncle toward the open emergency hatch leading to the rain-swept exterior bridge wing. The storm howled like a wounded beast, the freezing sea spray instantly clearing the suffocating halon gas from their lungs.
Clara burst through the hatch behind them, dragging the wounded Eleanor out onto the wet teak deck. Goliath lay motionless inside the bridge, permanently subdued by the gas.
Richard slumped against the ship's safety railing, rain plastering his silver hair to his forehead, clutching his shattered wrist. Despite his defeat, a sickening smirk twisted his scarred lips. ""You think you've won, Julian? The world thinks you're a mass murderer. The coast guard is already tracking this vessel. You'll spend the rest of your pathetic life in a supermax cage, just like I did.""
Julian stood tall against the gale, the rain washing the blood and soot from his face. From his pocket, he pulled the secondary thumb drive Clara had recovered—the one containing the complete unedited audio recording of Richard admitting to the murders and the conspiracy.
""The truth is already uploading to every major news outlet and federal prosecutor on the eastern seaboard,"" Julian said, his voice cutting through the wind like thunder. ""Marcus patched the comms five minutes ago. You're not going back to prison, Richard. You're going to answer to the people you poisoned.""
Richard looked at the churning, black Atlantic waves fifty feet below, then back at Julian’s cold, merciless eyes. Panic finally broke through his arrogant veneer. ""Julian... we're family. We share the same blood!""
""My family died in that fire,"" Julian said coldly.
Desperate and unwilling to face public ruin, Richard lunged toward the console on the rail to trigger the ship's scuttling charges. Julian didn't flinch. Stepping forward, he caught Richard by the throat, hoisting him over the safety railing. For one agonizing second, their eyes met—the patriarch of greed and the instrument of vengeance.
Julian opened his hand.
Richard Vance disappeared into the black, frothing abyss below, swallowed whole by the raging sea.
May you like
Julian turned away without watching him drown. He walked over to Clara, who sat on the deck, soaking wet, shivering, but alive. He reached down and gently helped her to her feet, draping his dry tactical trench coat over her shoulders.
In the distance, through the fading squall, the flashing blue and red lights of a naval cutter cut through the darkness, speeding toward the adrift yacht. Julian looked down at Clara, a quiet understanding passing between them. The nightmare was over. The truth was out. And the empire of lies had finally crumbled into the sea."
