Chapter 16 - The Fall of Vanessa Mercer
*CLICK.*
The hammer fell on an empty cylinder.
Vanessa’s eyes widened in sheer horror. She pulled the trigger again: *CLICK.*
"Empty," I said, closing the distance between us in a fraction of a second. "I unloaded that desk drawer when I swept the suite five minutes ago."
Before she could scream, I grabbed the cylinder of the revolver, ripping the weapon from her fingers and tossing it through the shattered balcony door.
Vanessa lashed out like a cornered beast, her long nails raking across my face, scratching deep lines into my cheek. "I should have killed you when I married you!" she shrieked. "You were nothing! An obstacle! A pathetic, grieving widower clinging to a ghost!"
I caught her wrists in an iron grip, twisting them behind her back, driving her down onto the marble hearth of the fireplace.
"You killed Claire," I growled into her ear, my voice trembling with two years of suppressed agony. "You tried to drown my daughter. And you called it business."
"Mercer Global belonged to me!" she spat, writhing against the floor. "I earned it!"
"You earned thirty years in a federal penitentiary," I whispered.
The heavy suite doors burst open with a deafening crash.
"FBI! NOBODY MOVE!"
A dozen heavily armed tactical agents in full body armor flooded the room, assault rifles raised, tactical lights cutting through the haze. Behind them stood Marcus, holding Lily, who had her face buried safely in his neck.
Two federal agents immediately dropped onto Vanessa, pinning her to the floor and snapping heavy steel cuffs around her wrists.
"Vanessa Mercer, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, corporate espionage, and federal treason," an agent barked, reading her the Miranda rights as they hauled her to her feet.
Vanessa struggled against the cuffs, screaming obscenities, her hair wild, her mascara smeared across her face. As they dragged her past Julian, she spat on him. "You pathetic coward! You ruined everything!"
Julian lay curled on the rug, weeping uncontrollably, holding his broken wrist as two other agents zip-tied his ankles.
I stood there in the center of the shattered suite, my chest bleeding, my body aching with exhaustion so deep it felt like lead in my bones.
On the carpet at my feet lay Claire’s silver star pendant.
I knelt down, my trembling fingers picking up the cool, smooth platinum. The chain was broken, but the star was intact.
I pressed it against my lips.
*We got them, Claire. It's over.*
"Daniel," Marcus called out softly from the doorway.
I turned around.
Marcus stepped forward, setting Lily gently onto her feet.
The little girl took one look at me—bloodied, bruised, covered in dust—and ran toward me with all the strength left in her tiny body.
"Daddy!"
May you like
I dropped to my knees, opening my arms, catching her as she slammed into my chest.
***
