CHAPTER 9 – The Girl They Tried to Use
The kidnapping happened in less than thirty seconds.
Emma had just finished placing fresh flowers beneath the bronze plaque honoring her father when a white delivery van pulled quietly beside the sidewalk.
A smiling woman stepped out carrying a clipboard.
"Emma?"
"I have something from your grandpa."
Emma hesitated.
Her mother had taught her never to go with strangers.
Before she could answer, Daniel appeared from the parking lot.
Something about the woman's smile felt wrong.
"Emma!"
he shouted.
The woman instantly dropped the clipboard.
Two masked men jumped from the van.
One grabbed Emma.
The other pulled a weapon.
Daniel sprinted forward without thinking.
The first shot shattered the school's front window.
Children screamed.
Teachers rushed everyone inside.
Daniel tackled one of the kidnappers onto the pavement.
Emma fought with everything she had.
She remembered her father's words written in the notebook:
"Being brave doesn't mean you're not afraid.
It means you never stop fighting for what's right."
She bit the man's hand.
He cried out in pain.
Emma slipped free and ran.
But another black SUV blocked the street.
Its rear door opened.
An older man stepped out.
Perfect gray suit.
Cold blue eyes.
Robert Sullivan.
"So this is Ethan's little girl."
Emma stood frozen.
Robert smiled without warmth.
"You have your father's courage."
"And that's exactly why I can't leave you alive."
Before anyone could move...
A deep voice echoed across the street.
"Take one more step..."
"...and you'll answer to me."
Everyone turned.
Richard Sullivan stood in the middle of the road.
No bodyguards.
No security team.
Just a grandfather protecting his granddaughter.
Robert laughed.
"You've always been sentimental."
Richard slowly raised a small flash drive.
"You wanted the company."
"I don't care about the company anymore."
"I care about her."
Robert's expression changed.
"What is that?"
"The original financial records."
"The ones proving every crime you've committed over the last twenty-five years."
Robert's smile disappeared.
"You wouldn't."
Richard looked at Emma.
"I already have."
At that exact moment...
Federal helicopters roared overhead.
Police vehicles surrounded the block.
Robert realized he had walked into a trap.
But instead of surrendering...
He reached inside his coat.
Daniel saw it first.
"Gun!"
Robert fired.
The bullet wasn't aimed at Richard.
It was aimed directly at Emma.
Time seemed to stop.
Without hesitation...
Richard threw himself in front of his granddaughter.
The gunshot echoed through the street.
Richard collapsed.
Emma screamed.
"Grandpa!"
Robert tried to escape.
He never made it three steps.
Federal agents tackled him to the ground.
The man who had destroyed an entire family finally lay in handcuffs.
But no one was looking at him.
Everyone was surrounding Richard.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
Emma grabbed his hand.
"Please don't leave me too."
Richard smiled weakly.
"I already left your daddy once..."
"I won't leave you."
The ambulance doors slammed shut.
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And for the second time in Emma's life...
The people she loved disappeared behind flashing emergency lights.
