Chapter 19 - THE CHOICE AT THE PRECIPICE
The realization hit like a lightning strike.
Eleanor hadn't thrown Theo into the ocean to hide him from Julian. She threw him because Julian had figured out the deception. Julian had realized Theo wasn't his match, and in a fit of psychotic rage, he was going to execute the boy on the yacht! Eleanor tossed Theo into the sea because she knew Claire was an Olympic-trained collegiate swimmer—she knew Claire was the only person on that boat fast enough to drag Theo away from the propeller blades!
"Eleanor played us all," Claire whispered, the horrifying, brilliant, twisted truth washing over her. "She made herself the villain so Julian would focus on her, not us."
"And now Julian wants to butcher Theo out of pure, spiteful revenge," Daniel growled, grabbing the cassette recorder from Marcus. "He knows he’s dying tonight. If he can't have the marrow, he’s going to make sure the Mercer bloodline dies with him."
A hail of automatic gunfire shredded the wooden skiff.
Marcus Vance took two rounds to the abdomen and fell backward into the black harbor water with a heavy splash.
"Move!" Daniel roared, hoisting Theo onto his back and grabbing Claire’s hand as they vaulted over the boardwalk railing.
They raced toward the rocky promontory where the Harbor Light Lighthouse loomed against the gathering storm clouds. The wind was howling now, kicking up ten-foot swells that smashed against the jagged black cliffs.
Julian’s voice crackled through a megaphone behind them, closer now. "Run all you want, Daniel! Midnight is thirty minutes away! You hand me the boy, and I give you twenty million dollars and a private jet to South America! You refuse, and I bury both of you in the foundation of that lighthouse!"
They reached the heavy iron doors of the lighthouse base. Daniel slammed the deadbolts shut just as bullets began hammering against the thick metal plate, clanging like funeral bells.
They were trapped. Above them was a spiral staircase leading to the lantern room ninety feet in the air. Below them was the locked blast door to the underground clinic.
Daniel looked at Claire, his breathing ragged, his shoulder slick with blood. "Claire, the lantern room has a maintenance zip-line that leads down to the Coast Guard rescue ledge. But someone has to hold the winch from inside the tower."
Claire felt cold terror grip her soul. "No, Daniel. We go together."
"The winch mechanism is broken, Claire! You know how these antique lighthouses work!" Daniel gripped her face with both hands, his eyes blazing with fierce, unconditional devotion. "It takes manual pressure to keep the cable taut. If I don't hold the brake, the cable drops you and Theo straight into the rocks."
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"I am not leaving you!" Claire sobbed, pounding her fist against his chest.
"You're not leaving me," Daniel whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. "You’re saving our son. You’ve been saving him since the day he hit that water. Now let me be his father."
