Chapter 69 - The Reckoning at the Precipice
Inside the shelter, Lily hit the interior emergency lock. The hydraulic mechanisms engaged with a deafening thud, the heavy steel door beginning its slow, unstoppable swing toward closure.
Outside, Jonathan emptied his magazine into the chassis of the SUV, pinning Vivienne behind the rear wheel. Victoria, however, was past all reason, past all pain. Driven by pure, unadulterated madness, the elder sister lunged forward, tackling Jonathan around the waist with the manic strength of a rabid animal, driving both of them toward the sheer edge of the quarry cliff.
They slammed into the gravel at the brink of the two-hundred-foot drop. Below them lay the jagged granite rocks and freezing waters of the alpine basin.
Victoria’s bloody fingers clawed at Jonathan’s face, her ruined eyes inches from his, spitting blood onto his cheek. "If I go to hell, Jonathan, you’re coming with me! We burn together, just like Blackwood Ridge!"
Jonathan fought back, driving his elbow into her ribs, but her grip was locked with hysterical rigidity. He felt the gravel slipping beneath his boots, the edge of the cliff crumbling into the abyss.
"You're already in hell, Victoria," Jonathan snarled. He reached down to his boot, slipped free his tactical combat blade, and drove it deep into the joint of her shoulder, severing the tendon.
Victoria screamed, her grip loosening as the agony finally shattered her manic delirium. Jonathan twisted violently, kicking her away from him with both boots.
Victoria tumbled backward over the edge. Her scream faded as she plunged down into the gray mist of the quarry, vanishing into the jagged rocks below with a distant, sickening crunch.
Jonathan rolled back onto solid ground, gasping for air, bleeding from multiple lacerations. He looked up just in time to see Vivienne standing ten feet away, her assault rifle leveled directly between his eyes.
"Goodbye, Jonathan," Vivienne said coldly, her finger tightening on the trigger.
*Bang!*
Vivienne’s rifle jerked upward. A small crimson circle blossomed on her forehead. Her eyes went completely blank, the calculating arrogance evaporating in an instant. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed lifeless onto the quarry stones.
Standing thirty yards away near the tree line, lowering a smoking service revolver, was Detective Sarah Miller—the woman who had first uncovered the hidden nursery files back at Cape Hope. Behind her, three tactical response units were swarming the quarry perimeter.
"Jonathan!" Miller yelled, sprinting toward him. "Are you hit?"
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Jonathan slowly stood up, brushing the dirt and blood from his chest, shaking his head. "I'm alive. Where is Lily?"
***
