Chapter 9 - The Devil in Champagne
The bridge of the freighter was a cemetery of dead radar screens and rusted steering columns. The only illumination came from the erratic flashing of a digital LED timer attached to a compact plastic explosive pack resting on the navigation console.
02:47.
02:46.
Nikolai kicked the reinforced bridge door off its latch, slipping inside with weapon raised. The room was deathly quiet except for the rhythmic, high-pitched chirping of the countdown.
""I wondered how long it would take you to abandon that brat,"" Vanessa’s voice purred from the shadows near the captain's chair.
She stepped into the pale green glow of the instrumentation. Her expensive blonde hair was ruined, plastered against her neck by rain, but she held a small electronic transmitter in her manicured hand, her thumb hovering directly over a glowing red toggle. In her other hand, she held a snub-nosed revolver, aimed directly at Nikolai's chest.
""Put the transmitter down, Vanessa,"" Nikolai said, lowering his pistol just an inch to keep her from panicking. ""Dante is dead. Your mercenaries are dead. There is nowhere left to run.""
Vanessa threw her head back and laughed, a shrill, hysterical sound that grated like iron on iron. ""Run? Do you really think I did this for Dante? Or for money? You destroyed my family ten years ago, Nikolai! You burned my father’s syndicate to ash and took everything we owned!""
Nikolai’s brow furrowed, his tactical mind calculating distance, angles, and reaction time. ""The Moretti family.""
""Yes!"" she shrieked, her finger trembling on the detonator. ""I spent five years getting close enough to sit at your table! Five years smiling at your disgusting face, playing the docile companion while you built your empire on the bones of my kin! And that little bastard child ruined everything with a single word!""
01:58.
""Sofia didn't burn your family, Vanessa. I did,"" Nikolai said, taking a deliberate half-step forward. ""Leave the child out of this. Take my life. Press the detonator when I am the only one aboard.""
Vanessa stared at him, her eyes wide with psychotic glee. ""No, Nikolai. Dying is too easy for you. I want you to watch. In less than two minutes, this whole harbor goes up in flames. You’ll know that your stubbornness killed your only daughter.""
She began to press her thumb down onto the red toggle.
Nikolai didn't raise his gun. Instead, he reached into his pocket and hurled the heavy, antique emerald ring he had pocketed from the dining table straight at her face.
May you like
The heavy stone caught Vanessa squarely in the bridge of her nose, snapping bone with a sickening crack. She screamed, flinching backward and losing her footing on the wet linoleum. Her revolver fired wildly into the ceiling, showering them in plaster and sparks.
Nikolai closed the distance in a single leap.
