HER SISTER-IN-LAW PUSHED HER PREGNANT BODY—STILL STRAPPED TO A WHEELCHAIR—INTO A DEEP POOL! BUT WHEN A BRAVE WOMAN JUMPED IN TO SAVE HER, THE SISTER-IN-LAW DID SOMETHING EVEN MORE SHOCKING...

The smell of gasoline and stagnant lake water was overwhelming as Julian and Clara pushed open the heavy rusted iron doors of the boathouse. Detective Miller and his men were held back at the tree line, rifles trained on the exterior, helpless against the threat of thermite.

The interior was vast, dark, and cavernous. Below the metal walkways, black lake water lapped violently against concrete pilings. In the center of the boathouse, suspended above an open water slip by heavy industrial chains, hung an antique iron diving cage—the very cage their father had used decades ago for deep-lake salvage operations.

Standing on the central platform beneath the harsh glare of halogen work lights was Victoria.

Clara gasped.

Victoria had changed her hair to a stark, icy platinum blonde. Her face was sharper, more predatory, but her eyes—those cold, unblinking serpentine eyes—were identical to the night on the Chicago rooftop. She wore a tailored black tactical jumpsuit, holding a remote detonator in one gloved hand and a customized .357 Magnum in the other.

"Look at you, Clara," Victoria cooed, her lips curling into a vile sneer. "Still breathing. Still walking. It’s almost disgusting how stubborn you are. Like a weed that refuses to die even after you pour acid on its roots."

"It’s over, Victoria!" Julian shouted, raising his weapon, his red laser sight landing squarely on her forehead. "The federal marshals have surrounded the perimeter. Drop the detonator and kick the gun away!"

Victoria didn't even flinch. She let out a soft, mocking laugh that echoed off the corrugated metal roof. "Shoot me, Julian. Go ahead. Pull the trigger. Do you think my finger won't contract on this switch as my heart stops? The thermite below our feet is wired in a dead-man's loop. I die, we all drown in fire together."

"What do you want?!" Clara screamed, stepping forward onto the metal grating, her fists clenched so hard her palms bled. "You tried to drown me! You tried to murder my unborn child! What more could you possibly want from us?!"

Victoria’s smile vanished, replaced by an expression of venomous, unadulterated hatred. "I want you to experience the exact mathematics of despair, Clara. You took my brother. You took my father's legacy. You turned my empire into a charity for crying mothers! But most of all... you made me a prisoner in my own mind."

Victoria clicked a button on the console beside her.

With a deafening screech of rusted gears, the heavy iron chain above the water slip began to unwind. The diving cage dropped three feet, swaying violently over the pitch-black water.