Chapter 6 - BLOOD AND TRUTHBANG!
A shot echoed down the hallway.
Julian’s eyes widened in disbelief. He slowly lowered his gaze to his own chest, where a dark crimson stain was rapidly blooming through his tailored grey suit.
Behind him stood Detective Marcus Reyes, holding his service weapon with both hands, smoke rising from the barrel. Behind Reyes, a tactical SWAT team poured out of the stairwells, their laser sights painting the hallway in bright red dots.
"Drop your weapon! On the floor, NOW!" Reyes roared.
Julian coughed up blood, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. He let go of Ethan’s throat and collapsed sideways onto the floor, clutching his chest.
Ethan gasped for air, pulling himself up against the wall, his chest heaving as the SWAT team swept past him, securing the hospital room and disarming Julian’s remaining men.
Ava crawled out of the doorway, tears streaming down her face as she reached Ethan. "Ethan! Oh God, Ethan!"
Ethan wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close into a tight embrace. "It's over... Ava, it's over..."
Detective Reyes walked over, kicking Julian’s silver pistol away from his twitching fingers. He knelt down beside the dying man.
"Where is Margaret?" Reyes demanded, his voice hard. "Where is she hiding, Ross?"
Julian looked up at Reyes, blood coating his teeth as he smiled maliciously. "You... you think this was about money?" he wheezed, his breath growing shallow. "You think... Mother escaped to run away?"
Ethan froze, looking at his dying half-brother. "What do you mean?"
"She’s... she’s not fleeing the country, Ethan..." Julian choked out, a dark, terrifying gleam in his eyes. "She went... to the estate's safe house... in the mountains. She set... the self-destruct protocol... for the corporate servers..."
"What servers?!" Ethan yelled, grabbing Julian by his lapels. "What are you talking about?!"
"The entire... Vance financial ledger... public broadcast... in thirty minutes," Julian whispered, his voice fading to a death rattle. "She’s going to release... evidence framing YOU... for Arthur’s murder... for Richard’s murder... for everything. She’d rather destroy you... than let you win..."
Julian’s head fell back, his eyes going glossy and lifeless.
Ethan stood up, his face pale as chalk. "She’s going to release forged digital records. If those files hit the dark web and the media networks, I will spend the rest of my life behind bars, and Ava's father's name will be permanently dragged through the mud as a traitor."
"We have thirty minutes," Reyes said, looking at his watch. "The mountain estate is twenty miles away. Even with sirens, we won't make it in time through this storm."
"We won't make it by road," Ethan said, his eyes filled with a terrifying resolve. "But the hospital has a medical evacuation helicopter on the roof."
Ava grabbed his hand, her knuckles white. "I'm coming with you."
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"Ava, no! It's too dangerous—"
"I am coming, Ethan!" Ava snapped, standing upright on her own two feet, her body shaking with exertion, but her eyes burning with an unshakeable fire. "She stole my life. She killed my father. I am not letting you face that monster alone!"
