Chapter 18 - The Final Descent
The heavy iron ventilation grate dropped away with a muffled clang against the concrete floor below, echoing sharply through the cavernous control room.
Marcus Vance whipped around, his sidearm clearing his holster before his boots had even fully pivoted. "Shoot them! Shoot anyone who comes through—"
Before his henchmen could raise their rifles, Julian and I dropped feet-first through the open ceiling grid, landing squarely in the center of the room in a blur of motion and flashing steel.
Bang. Bang.
Julian’s shotgun roared, sending two of Marcus’s guards flying backward into the control panels in a shower of sparks and shattered glass. I threw myself sideways, sweeping my Glock up and putting two precise rounds into the shoulder of the third mercenary before he could draw a bead on Tessa.
"Grant!" Tessa screamed in a mixture of terror and relief as the last guard collapsed.
"Stay down!" I ordered, sweeping the room with my weapon as I sprinted toward the chairs where Tessa and the boys were bound.
Marcus Vance, realizing his backup was neutralized and his trap had completely collapsed, lunged across the control console. He grabbed a heavy wrench, grabbed Tessa by the arm, and jerked her violently to her feet, pressing the cold steel of a backup pistol directly against her temple.
"Don't move a single damn inch!" Marcus screamed, his face purple with rage, spit flying from his lips as his eyes darted frantically toward the exit stairs. "Drop the guns or her brains paint this concrete floor right now!"
Julian froze, his shotgun half-raised. I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart slamming violently against my ribs.
"Let her go, Marcus," I said, my voice dropping into a terrifying, dead calm as I lowered my weapon an inch. "This is between you and the Whitlock family. She has nothing to do with this."
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"She has everything to do with this!" Marcus shrieked, his finger tightening on the trigger as he backed slowly toward the steel exit door, dragging Tessa with him. "You took my career! You took my future! I built this company for your father while you were sitting in private boarding schools! I'm not walking away empty-handed!"
He kept backing up, his eyes locked on me, completely unaware of the shadow silently descending the ladder behind him.
