Chapter 18 - The Reckoning on the Rocks
Arthur stared at his son, his face tightening into an expression of profound disgust.
"You would shoot your own blood for a girl you've known for three years?" Arthur shouted over the gale.
"She gave me a life!" Julian yelled back, descending the wooden steps into the rain-soaked grass.
"You gave me a cage! You and mother turned me into a parasite!"
Victoria emerged onto the deck behind Julian, holding a small silver revolver she had taken from her handbag.
"Julian, drop the rifle!" Victoria shrieked, her aristocratic composure completely shattered.
"Drop it or I swear to God I'll shoot you where you stand!"
Maya saw the silver gun in Victoria’s hand and screamed, "Julian, behind you!"
Julian didn't hesitate.
Without turning completely around, he swung the heavy wooden stock of the hunting rifle behind him in a vicious arc.
The stock connected brutally with Victoria’s wrist with a sickening crunch.
The small revolver flew out of her hand, tumbling over the deck railing into the darkness below.
Victoria screamed in agony, clutching her shattered wrist against her chest, dropping to her knees on the wet deck.
Arthur didn't try to help his wife.
Taking advantage of Julian’s distraction, Arthur lunged toward Maya, wrapping his left arm around her throat.
He pressed the deadly syringe directly against the soft skin under her ear.
"Drop the rifle, Julian!" Arthur barked, backing toward the very edge of the precipice.
"One squeeze of this plunger and potassium chloride stops her heart in four seconds!"
Julian turned back, raising the heavy rifle to his shoulder, lining up the iron sights directly with his father's forehead.
The rain beat down relentlessly, drenching all three of them on the edge of the cliff.
"Let her go, Arthur," Julian said, his voice dropping into an icy, dangerous monotone.
"You won't shoot," Arthur sneered, pressing the needle deeper until a tiny bead of dark blood welled on Maya’s skin.
"You're soft, Julian. I raised you to be an executive, not an executioner."
"You didn't raise me," Julian whispered, his finger tightening slowly against the trigger. "You abandoned me."
Maya locked eyes with Julian through the pouring rain.
She didn't see the polite, charming man who had poured coffee for her that morning.
She saw a man prepared to sacrifice his own soul to pull her back from the edge.
"Julian," Maya gasped out through her crushed throat. "The skiff."
Arthur frowned in confusion. "What did she say?"
Julian’s eyes flashed with instant understanding.
Two hours ago, Julian had told Maya about the old skiff down at the marina—how the rot at the bottom meant you never push backward.
Maya didn't try to pull away from Arthur's grasp.
Instead, with every ounce of strength remaining in her body, she threw her entire weight *backward*, slamming her head into Arthur’s nose.
Cartilage crunched under the impact.
Arthur howled in pain, his grip loosening as his head snapped back.
The syringe flew from his fingers, spinning away into the black air.
Maya dropped straight down to the mud.
"Now, Julian!" she screamed.
May you like
Julian pulled the trigger.
***
