Chapter 12 - The River Path
Outside on the wet lawn, the rain poured down in torrents, hissing against the burning mansion. Maria carried Emma through the dense weeping willows near the estate’s edge, where the property met the swift, swollen waters of the Blackwood River.
"Maria, where is Daddy?" Emma cried, her clothes soaked, her body trembling against Maria’s chest. "I want Daddy!"
"He's coming, baby, he's coming right behind us," Maria lied, choking back a sob as she looked back at the sky. A massive column of black smoke rose into the clouds, the entire south wing of the manor engulfed in an orange fury.
Her foot slipped in the thick mud along the riverbank, and she fell to her knees, keeping Emma cradled safely in her arms. When she scrambled up, a figure emerged from the shadow of the old boathouse.
It was Detective Vance. His face was bruised and swollen where Julian had struck him, his coat dripping with rain, a fresh revolver gleaming in his right hand.
"That's far enough, Maria," Vance panted, his breath pluming in the cold air. "Hand the girl over."
"You're a monster," Maria spat, rising slowly, placing Emma firmly behind her back. "She's just a child. Clara gave her life to protect her!"
"I don't care about Clara," Vance said, raising the weapon until it pointed directly at Maria’s chest. "Mr. Kane pays five million on delivery. Step aside, or you won't survive to see the trial."
Emma stepped out from behind Maria, her small face pale, her jaw set with an uncanny, fierce defiance that looked entirely like Julian Sterling. "You don't touch Maria!" she screamed, throwing a jagged stone she had picked up from the mud.
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The stone struck Vance squarely across the cheek, cutting the flesh. Vance cursed, his finger tightening on the trigger.
A loud gunshot cracked through the rain—not from Vance’s weapon, but from the darkness behind him. Vance’s eyes widened in shock as he slumped forward into the churning waters of the river, revealing Julian standing ten yards away, bloodied, burned, but alive.
