Chapter 28 - The Final Stand
The small flame of the lighter flickered in the cavernous workshop, casting long, dancing shadows across the walls lined with timber and sawdust.
"If you drop that lighter," I said, my voice dropping into a lethal, dead-steady register, "I will put a bullet through your heart before you hit the floor."
Eleanor smiled, her thumb hovering directly over the flint wheel. "Maybe so, Mr. Reynolds. But the spark is already falling."
She flicked her thumb downward.
The flame dropped from her fingers toward the puddle of gasoline pooling around the base of the workbench.
Time seemed to fracture into slow motion. I didn't shoot. I didn't hesitate. I dropped my pistol, threw my entire body forward, and lunged across the shop floor like a missile.
My shoulder slammed into Eleanor’s waist, sending her crashing hard against a stack of heavy oak planks just as the floor beneath us erupted in a brilliant sheet of orange flame.
The heat was instantaneous and searing. The fire roared to life, racing along the gasoline trails toward the back pillar where Nora was tied.
"Nora!" I screamed, scrambling through the blinding smoke and intense heat.
May you like
I grabbed the heavy hunting knife from my belt, sawing furiously through the thick zip-ties binding her wrists. The plastic melted under the blade, parting just as the flames licked the base of the oak pillar.
I scooped Nora up into my arms, shielding her small body with my own jacket, and dove headfirst through the side window of the workshop just as the front display racks collapsed inward with a thunderous crash of shattering glass and burning timber.
