Chapter 4 - The Siege
I didn't give her a chance to monologue. As she tightened her finger on the trigger, I dropped to the floor, tucking the incubator into my chest, and swept her legs from under her.
The gunshot rang out, tearing through the upholstery of the jet. My unit breached the cabin at that exact second. Tessa’s security detail didn't stand a chance. Within thirty seconds, the hangar was cleared.
Tessa lay on the floor, snarling like a cornered animal. She looked at me, not with love, but with pure, unadulterated hatred. "You think this ends here? You think you can just take her and walk away? My family owns the courts, the police, the entire city!"
"Then I guess I’ll just have to burn it all down," I replied, standing up with my daughter in my arms.
I walked past her, leaving her to be zip-tied by my men. Outside, the rain had turned into a torrential downpour. I stepped onto the tarmac, the cold air hitting my face. I held my daughter close, her tiny breath hitting my skin—the most beautiful rhythm I had ever felt.
But the night wasn't over. I knew Tessa’s reach was long. We couldn't go back to my house. We couldn't go back to my life. I had to disappear, but first, I had to find Maren and the twins.
"Reed," I said, hitting my comms. "We have the third. Now locate the mother. She was on the road near the county line."
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"Understood, Colonel. We have a team moving to intercept. We’ll bring them to the extraction point."
I waited in the back of the armored van as the clock ticked toward midnight. The reality of what I had done—the war I had just declared on one of the most powerful families in the country—began to settle in. I had lost my company, my reputation, and my safety. But as I looked at the child in my arms, I realized I had finally reclaimed my life.
