Chapter 16 - The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World
The abandoned Lakeside lighthouse stood on a jagged limestone cliff overlooking Lake Erie, its peeling white paint and rusted iron railings battered by decades of howling winds and freezing lake spray. By the time my sedan crunched onto the gravel parking lot, the sun was sinking below the horizon, bleeding a bruised purple and crimson light across the roiling gray waves.
The wind tore at my coat as I stepped out of the car, clutching the leather binder like a lifeline. The air smelled of salt, decaying kelp, and ozone.
Parked thirty feet away was a sleek, black unmarked town car with its engine idling, exhaust pipes puffing white plumes into the cold evening air.
The rear door of the town car swung open, and Marcus Vance stepped out, unfazed by the lashing rain. He wasn't holding a pistol this time; instead, two heavy-set mercenaries stood flanking him, their hands resting ominously inside their tactical jackets.
"You really are a stubborn old woman, Evelyn," Marcus called out over the roar of the crashing waves, stepping toward me across the wet gravel. "Did you really think running out to a abandoned lighthouse in the middle of nowhere was going to save you?"
I stopped twenty paces away, planting my feet firmly on the wet stone path, holding the binder up like a shield.
"I didn't come here to run, Marcus," I shouted back, my voice cutting through the wind. "I came here to finish it. Liam Hayes has copies of every single document, every medical file, and every financial wire transfer uploaded to global news servers right now. If you kill me, the world finds out everything within sixty seconds."
Marcus paused. For the first time, a flicker of genuine irritation crossed his polished, arrogant features. He checked his titanium wristwatch, his eyes narrowing.
"You bluff well, Evelyn. But Liam Hayes received his final termination notice twenty minutes ago when our operatives intercepted his vehicle on Route 315. He doesn't have the files."
My heart skipped a beat, a cold terror washing over me. "You... you killed him?"
"We solved a professional nuisance," Marcus replied smoothly, taking another step closer. "And now, you’re going to hand over that binder, get into the back of my car, and we are going to pay a very nice, quiet visit to your daughter and your granddaughter. After all, the bloodline needs to be secured for the next generation, whether you cooperate or not."
The threat hung in the air, sharper and more vicious than any weapon. He wasn't just talking about killing me; he was talking about going after Clara and little Maya.
I looked down at the leather binder in my hands, then out at the crashing waves below the cliff.
"You'll never get the bloodline, Marcus," I whispered.
May you like
Before he could lunge forward, I turned sharply toward the edge of the limestone cliff, raised the leather binder high above my head, and hurled it with every ounce of my remaining strength out into the abyss of Lake Erie.
The wind caught the heavy book, flipping its pages wildly through the air before it plunged down, disappearing forever beneath the dark, churning froth of the freezing waves.
