Chapter 20
The trapdoor exploded upward, wood tearing from the frame as Ryan vaulted into the cabin’s tactical communications center.
A lone private security guard at the console spun around, reaching for his sidearm, but Ryan didn't hesitate. He fired a single burst from his submachine gun, dropping the operative instantly against the glowing wall of surveillance monitors.
Evelyn Cross didn't flinch. She sat in a leather high-backed armchair near the stone fireplace, dressed in a tailored charcoal suit, her silver hair perfectly coiffed, a glass of amber scotch resting steadily in her manicured hand. On the desk beside her lay a leather-bound folder bearing the crest of the state supreme court, alongside a satellite detonator switch.
"You always were faster than your father, Ryan," Evelyn said, taking a slow sip from her glass as the smell of gunpowder filled the room. "Though considerably less practical."
"Where is Maria's body, Evelyn?" Ryan asked, keeping his weapon trained directly between her eyes, his finger tightening on the trigger slack.
Evelyn offered a thin, pitying smile. "You think Marcus buried her? Maria wasn't a threat because of what she knew about me, Ryan. She was a threat because of what she refused to do to you."
The trapdoor squeaked as Emily, Sarah, and Lily climbed out into the room. When Evelyn saw Lily standing beside Sarah, her smile vanished, replaced by an expression of sharp, clinical calculation.
"Look at her," Evelyn whispered, her voice dropping into something dark and venomous. "She survived. Just like her mother."
"You told Marcus to kill her," Ryan growled, stepping closer, the barrel of the gun inches from Evelyn’s forehead.
"I told Marcus to secure my bloodline," Evelyn said, her eyes flashing toward the tactical monitors. On the central screen, the exterior cameras showed Marcus and four heavily armed mercenaries approaching the front porch of the cabin, their rifles raised.
"Your bloodline?" Emily asked, holding both little girls behind her. "What are you talking about?"
Evelyn set her glass down on the mahogany table with a quiet, decisive click. She looked straight into Ryan’s eyes with a look of terrifying triumph.
"Maria wasn't just your lover, Ryan," Evelyn revealed, her hand hovering over a red toggle switch on the console. "She was my daughter. The one child I gave away before your father dragged me into this empire thirty years ago. Lily isn't just your heir. She is the legal sole beneficiary to every offshore account, every trust fund, and every square foot of land this family owns."
Before Ryan could process the sickening revelation, Evelyn slammed her palm down on the red toggle switch.
A high-pitched klaxon alarm wailed throughout the cabin as the surveillance monitors flashed bright amber. Outside, the cabin’s heavy steel storm shutters slammed shut over the windows, sealing them inside.
Through the heavy oak front door, Marcus’s voice boomed through an external loudspeaker: "Evelyn! The perimeter is blown! Federal tactical units are coming through the main gate right now!"
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Evelyn looked at Ryan, her cold smile returning as the sirens screamed into the night. "You thought this was a coup, Ryan? This was an audit. And neither of us is leaving this room alive to face the aftermath."
From the ceiling above, the distinct, mechanical ticking of a four-minute countdown timer began to echo through the reinforced walls.
