Chapter 12 - The Shattered Idol
“Stand down,” Leander ordered the contractor, his voice cracking with panic. “I am revoking the authorization. Stand down immediately!”
The lead contractor didn't flinch. “Too late for revocations, Mr. Vance. The leaks have already destroyed your public standing. If these people walk out of this cabin alive, you spend the rest of your life in a federal penitentiary—and we become accomplices to murder. We clean the scene now.”
The man raised his rifle, aiming directly at Mara’s chest.
Leander didn't calculate the odds. For the first time in his life, there was no profit margin, no balance sheet, no strategic advantage. He lunged forward, throwing his weight against the contractor’s arm just as the weapon discharged.
The blast was deafening inside the small cabin.
Leander felt a hammer-like blow strike his side, knocking the wind from his lungs and sending him sprawling across the cedar floorboards. He crashed down near Elena’s bed, his hands grasping at the rough blankets.
A second shot never came. Keller, using the last ounce of his strength, lunged from the shadows with an iron wood-splitter, driving the heavy tool into the second contractor's knee, sending both men crashing out the open doorway into the freezing darkness and down the steep embankment.
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The silence that followed was terrifyingly absolute.
Leander lay on his side, his hands pressed against his abdomen. Warm, crimson blood pulsed between his fingers, staining the antique rugs. He looked up, his vision swimming, to see Elena looking down at him.
