Chapter 29 - A Mother’s Vengeance
Before I could answer, the yacht’s deck lights swung toward our position, blinding us in a sudden, brilliant white beam.
“Movement behind container four!” a voice bellowed through an acoustic megaphone. “Fire for effect!”
A hail of heavy-caliber rounds shattered the shipping container above our heads, showering us with burning metal flakes and shredded cargo.
Dante didn’t flinch. With the last reserve of adrenaline left in his system, he shoved me toward the open gangway of the yacht. “Run, Lena! Seal the vault!”
I grabbed the double carrier and bolted across the slick, frost-covered dock.
Two mercenaries rushed down the gangway, their rifles coming up. I didn’t stop. I dropped to my knees, sliding across the wet decking beneath their field of fire, and emptied Julianna’s pistol into their legs and torsos. The suppressed cracks of the gun were swallowed by the howling wind and the roar of the yacht’s idling twin diesel turbines.
The men collapsed into the icy waters of Lake Michigan with heavy splashes.
I breached the yacht’s bridge, kicking the watertight door open.
Inside, seated behind a bank of glowing holographic monitors and fiber-optic terminals, sat Arthur Vance.
He didn't have his silver cane. He didn't have his aristocratic smirk. He held a silver revolver, pointed directly at the entrance.
“You’re too late, Lena,” Arthur said calmly, his hand steady despite his age. “The uplink is already live with Geneva. Hand me the girl, and I will let you walk off this boat with Mateo.”
I looked at the main console. On the screen was a rotating double-helix structure, flashing red: *GENEVA EMBRYO VAULT #04 — BIOMETRIC KEY REQUIRED FOR PURGE*.
“You sold your own son,” I said, stepping forward, the empty pistol hanging uselessly in my hand. “You turned his children into trade collateral.”
“I built an empire!” Arthur shouted, the calm façade cracking to reveal the raving madman beneath. “Do you think dynasties are maintained through sentiment? Through birthday parties and wedding anniversaries? Blood is only valuable when it buys sovereignty! Now give me the key!”
Arthur raised the revolver, cocking the hammer.
Behind him, through the shatterproof glass of the bridge window, a figure rose from the dark deck.
It was Dante.
He was covered in salt spray and blood, looking like a corpse dragged from the bottom of the lake. In his left hand, he held the steel mooring hook he had unhitched from the dock.
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With a soundless, terrifying roar, Dante drove the steel hook directly through the bridge window, sending thousands of crystal shards exploding into the cabin.
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