Chapter 6 - The Lighthouse SiegeEvelyn clutched little Lily tightly to her chest, sprinting through the driving rain toward the rusted iron gate behind the lighthouse tower. Behind her, the black SUVs pulled up, forming a semicircle of glaring headlights that illuminated Adrian stepping out of the truck with the confidence of a king walking to his execution.
"Adrian Vale!" a voice boomed from the lead SUV.
Uncle Victor stepped out from the shadows, flanked by four heavily armed mercenaries. Victor was a man built like a meat cleaver, with cold, dead eyes and a permanent smirk carved into his scarred face.
"You've given us quite the chase, nephew," Victor sneered, stepping closer. "Running away to play house in Maine? Pathetic. Especially when you left a multi-billion-dollar empire waiting for a real leader."
"The empire is a cage, Victor," Adrian replied smoothly, his hand sliding slowly toward the tactical knife hidden inside his jacket lining. "And you're just a dog rattling the bars."
"Watch your tongue!" Victor snapped, raising a hand. "Kill him. But check the truck first. I want the girl. The bloodline dies tonight."
Two mercenaries broke away from the group, jogging toward the passenger side of the battered pickup truck.
Panic surged through Evelyn’s veins. She pushed open the heavy wooden door of the lighthouse stairs leading down the cliffside, slipping into the dark, echoing stairwell just as a loud crash echoed from above.
Down in the damp, salt-scented dark, Evelyn guided Lily step by slippery step down the carved stone stairs toward the crashing waves below. The wind howled through the cave entrance, smelling of brine and impending doom. She spotted the small wooden motorboat bobbing gently against the wooden dock.
Just as she reached for the mooring rope, a heavy boot echoed on the stone stairs above her.
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"Well, well, well," a harsh, grating voice echoed down the shaft. "Looks like I found the rats before they could drown."
Evelyn spun around, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Standing on the stairs a few yards above her was one of Victor’s mercenaries, a massive scar running down his cheek, leveling a silenced pistol directly at her chest.
