The front door had clicked shut six hours ago, but the silence inside the house didn’t feel like peace. It felt like the vacuum created right before a bomb detonates.

*(Title: “The Son Who Saved His Father”)*

Arthur Vance gasped in shock and pain as his kneecap buckled inward under the impact. He stumbled backward, his shot discharging harmlessly into the ceiling plaster.

*POP!*

Daniel didn’t waste the fraction of a second his son had bought him.

He lunged forward, sweeping his arm across Arthur’s chest, tackling the sixty-year-old lawyer to the floor. Daniel pinned Arthur’s weapon hand with his knee, grabbed the man’s throat, and punched him squarely in the jaw until Arthur’s eyes rolled back into his skull and the handgun clattered loose.

Daniel kicked the weapon into the hallway.

He turned around.

Ethan stood by the doorway, his chest heaving, his small hands still gripped tightly around the brass lamp. Lily was peeking out from behind his legs, crying but untouched.

“Ethan…” Daniel gasped, tears cutting through the grime and blood on his face.

The boy dropped the lamp.

Daniel collapsed to his knees and wrapped both arms around both of his children, pulling them against his chest so hard they could feel his pounding heart through his soaked shirt.

“I’ve got you,” Daniel sobbed, burying his face in Lily’s curls and Ethan’s neck. “I’ve got you both. Daddy’s here. It’s over. It’s over.”

“Dad, behind you!” Ethan shouted suddenly.

Daniel whipped around.

Melissa had scrambled to her feet, clutching a jagged shard of broken mirror glass, her face contorted with insane, murderous desperation. She charged toward Ethan and Lily.

“NO!” Daniel roared, preparing to throw his own body into the glass.

*BAM! BAM!*

Two gunshots tore through the hallway air.

Melissa froze mid-stride. Her eyes widened in absolute shock. The shard of glass slipped from her fingers, shattering on the wood. She collapsed onto her knees, then fell flat on her face.

Standing in the doorway, rain dripping from his black tactical vest, was Detective Raymond, his service Glock drawn and smoking.

Behind him were a dozen State Police tactical officers, their rifles raised, red laser sights illuminating every corner of the room.

“Drop the weapon! Police! Nobody move!”

Raymond lowered his weapon, his eyes finding Daniel and the two children huddled on the floor.

“Daniel,” Raymond said, his voice trembling with relief. “State Police raided Vance’s firm twenty minutes ago. The FBI caught Evelyn trying to board a private flight to Zurich with the trust documents. You did it, man. It’s done.”

Daniel closed his eyes, slumping back against the wall, holding his weeping son and daughter in an unbreakable embrace.

The nightmare was finished.