Chapter 6 - Bloodlines and Betrayals
The scream that echoed through the fourteenth floor was Penelope's.
In total blackness, the conference room dissolved into chaos. Emergency backup lights flickered to life five seconds later, casting an eerie, pulsating red glow across the boardroom. The Vance Security guards drew their sidearms, stepping in front of Garrett.
"What is the meaning of this?" Garrett roared, slamming his fists on the table. "Mercer, what did you do?"
"He didn't do anything, darling," a voice resonated through the conference room’s surround-sound speaker system.
Garrett froze. Penelope gasped, clutching Garrett’s arm so hard her knuckles turned white.
"Rosalind?" Garrett whispered, his eyes darting frantically toward the ceiling speakers. "That’s... that’s impossible. It's a recording. Who is playing this?!"
The heavy oak double doors of the boardroom hissed. The magnetic emergency locks disengaged with a loud, metallic clunk. The doors slowly swung open.
The two security guards raised their pistols toward the opening.
Before either man could acquire a target, two silenced shots cracked through the corridor air. Non-lethal compressed gas darts struck both guards in their tactical vests, dropping them instantly to the carpeted floor, paralyzed and gasping for breath.
Through the doorway stepped Tobias.
He was dressed in dark tactical combat trousers and a Kevlar vest. He walked with long, confident, powerful strides, his boots thudding against the floorboards with rhythmic authority. He kicked one of the fallen guards' weapons away, his eyes locked dead on Garrett Vance.
The entire board of directors stood frozen in sheer, unadulterated terror.
"T-Tobias...?" Garrett stammered, backing away until his thighs hit the heavy mahogany table. His face was drained of blood, his lips trembling. "You're... you're walking? How are you walking?!"
"I’ve been walking for fifteen years, Garrett," Tobias said, his voice deep and echoing with thunderous finality. "Just waiting for you and your pathetic father to stick your necks out far enough."
"It's a trick! Shoot him!" Penelope shrieked, pointing at Tobias. "Someone kill him!"
"There's no one left to take your orders, Penelope," another voice sounded from the corridor.
I stepped through the doorway.
I had washed the river silt from my hair. I wore my tailored emerald-green business suit—the one I had worn the day I took over my father's office. On my lapel pinned the gold anchor insignia of Sterling Maritime. I walked with my chin held high, stepping into the red glare of the emergency lights until I stood three feet from my husband.
Garrett stumbled backward, his knees giving out, collapsing into his high-backed leather chair. He stared at me as if the earth had opened beneath him to vomit up a vengeance demon.
"Rosalind..." he choked out, clutching his throat. "You... you drowned. I saw the car sink... the current..."
"You tied my seat belt with a steel wire, Garrett," I said, my voice dangerously calm, ringing clearly across the terrified silence of the board members. "You lowered the window, swam to the bank, and hugged my half-sister while you watched me choke on river water."
Penelope began to sob hysterically, hiding her face behind her hands. "Garrett, do something! Do something!"
"Shut up, Penelope!" Garrett snapped violently, his composure completely shattering. He whipped out a small silver pocket pistol from inside his jacket, aiming the barrel straight between my eyes. "Don't move! Neither of you move! If you take one step, I swear to God I’ll blow her brains out across this table!"
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Tobias didn't even flinch. He slowly raised his right hand, displaying a remote detonation switch connected to the building's telecommunications array.
"Go ahead, Garrett," Tobias said, a cold smirk touching his lips. "Pull the trigger. See what happens to your offshore bank accounts."
