Chapter 8 - Blood and Wood
*(Title: “The Price of Survival”)*
*BANG!*
The gunshot echoed like a cannon in the cavernous hallway.
Daniel felt a searing, white-hot line of agony carve through the meat of his left shoulder. The impact threw him against the mahogany banister, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins drowned the pain before it could reach his brain.
He didn't stop.
He lunged forward before Melissa could cock the hammer again, slamming into her with the full momentum of his body. They crashed through the double doors into the master suite.
The revolver flew from her grip, skidding across the hardwood floor and disappearing beneath an armoire.
Melissa fought like a feral animal, clawing at Daniel’s eyes, her fingernails tearing across his cheek. “I should have killed you two years ago with her!” she screamed.
Daniel pinned her arms to the floor with a grip of pure iron. “Where are they, Melissa? WHERE ARE THEY?!”
A click sounded behind Daniel’s head.
Cold steel pressed against the base of his skull.
“Get off her, Daniel,” Arthur Vance’s calm, cultured voice said softly from the doorway. “Slowly.”
Daniel froze, breathing hard, the blood dripping from his shoulder onto Melissa’s blouse.
Arthur Vance stood behind him, holding a silenced 9mm automatic.
“You’ve caused a remarkable amount of inconvenience tonight, Daniel,” Arthur murmured. “A father’s love is truly a fascinating biochemical reaction. Completely irrational, yet remarkably predictable. Get up.”
Daniel slowly stood, keeping his hands raised, his eyes scanning the room.
Through the cracked door of the adjacent guest room, he saw the faint glow of a nightlight.
“Arthur,” Daniel panted, his chest rising and falling. “The federal prosecutor has Sarah’s files right now. Raymond uploaded them to the state server before I left the precinct.”
Arthur smiled—a thin, hollow sneer. “Raymond is a junior detective. By tomorrow morning, his laptop will be seized as part of an internal affairs investigation, and you will be reported as an escaped domestic abuser who murdered his sister-in-law in a fit of rage before turning the weapon on himself and his family. The narrative is already written.”
Arthur raised the barrel, aligning the sights with Daniel’s forehead.
“Say goodbye, Daniel.”
Suddenly, a loud, metallic crash echoed from the bedroom behind Arthur.
Ethan burst through the door, clutching a heavy brass bedside lamp with both hands.
With a feral, desperate scream, the eight-year-old swung the solid brass base directly into the back of Arthur Vance’s knee!
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*CRACK.*
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