Chapter 30 - The Face-Off
"Victoria, listen to me!" Daniel stepped forward, his hands raised open, keeping between her and where Grace was carrying Lily toward the tree line. "It's over! Look around you! You have nowhere to run! Throw the gun in the water and put your hands up!"
"You ruined me!" she screamed, her voice cracking into a ragged sob of pure narcissism. "I gave you six years of my youth! I gave you that child! I deserved the Vance name! I deserved the fortune! And you threw me out like common trash for *her*!"
She swung the gun toward the dark silhouette of Grace carrying Lily.
"NO!" Daniel lunged.
A deafening *BANG* split the night.
The muzzle flash lit the rain in a blinding burst of orange. Daniel felt the searing graze of lead burn across his upper arm, tearing through his jacket, but the momentum of his body carried him forward. He slammed into Victoria, knocking the revolver out of her hand. The weapon spun across the slick wood and plunged beneath the churning dark water of the harbor.
They crashed onto the edge of the wooden pier. Victoria fought like a wild animal, her long nails raking across Daniel’s neck, clawing at his eyes, screaming curses that curdled the blood.
"I hate you! I should have drowned her when she was a baby! I should have burned that house to the ground!"
"You're sick, Victoria," Daniel panted, pinning her wrists against the wet timber with the full weight of his body. "You are an absolute monster."
Behind them, tactical officers swarmed the dock, red laser sights painting the fog. Heavy combat boots pounded against the wood. Julian was already pinned to the mud, face pushed into the gravel, handcuffed and disarmed by two state troopers.
Detective Miller sprinted up the pier, his service weapon drawn. "Daniel! Step back! Let us handle her!"
Daniel pulled himself up, clutching his bleeding arm, breathing in ragged, painful gasps.
Two officers seized Victoria, hauling her up by her arms. Her designer coat was caked in black sludge, her face bruised and streaked with mascara and rain. She looked nothing like the untouchable socialite who had ruled the Vance mansion with an iron fist. She looked like a caged, rabid creature.
Yet, as they dragged her past Daniel toward the cruisers, she stopped. She raised her head, spitting blood onto the ground, and stared straight into Daniel’s eyes.
May you like
A slow, terrifying smile spread across her red lips.
***
