Chapter 18 - Cornered on the Tarmac
The SUV skidded across the rain-slicked asphalt, spinning ninety degrees before coming to a dead stop directly in front of the helicopter's landing skids.
The helicopter pilot, seeing the massive SUV blocking his takeoff vector, immediately cut the engine throttle, forcing the spinning rotors to begin slowing down for safety.
"Out of the car!" Daniel ordered, throwing his door open into the pouring rain.
Emily followed, her heart pounding against her ribs.
On the helipad, Margaret turned around, her face twisted in absolute horror and rage as she saw Daniel and Emily emerging unharmed from the storm.
"How are you alive?!" Margaret screamed over the dying whine of the helicopter engines. "You were locked in the vault!"
"You forgot that Katherine was ten times smarter than you ever were, Margaret!" Daniel shouted back, stepping onto the helipad, his clothes soaked through. "It's over! Put the briefcases down!"
Vanessa grabbed one of the silver briefcases, her hair plastered to her face by the pouring rain, her designer dress ruined. "No! I worked too hard for this life! I won't go back to being nothing!"
Vanessa suddenly reached into her coat, pulling out a small silver handgun and pointing it directly at Emily!
"Vanessa, don't!" Margaret shrieked, backing away in terror. "Put that away!"
"Shut up, Mother!" Vanessa screamed, her hand shaking wildly as she aimed at Emily's chest. "She ruined everything! She was just a servant! She was supposed to be in jail!"
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Emily stood her ground, staring straight down the barrel of the gun. The fear that had controlled her for twenty-four hours seemed to wash away under the freezing rain, replaced by a deep, immovable strength passed down from the mother she had never truly known.
"Shoot me, and you spend the rest of your life in a maximum-security prison," Emily said, her voice piercing through the howling wind. "Lower the gun, Vanessa."
