Chapter 6 - THE EMERALD BROOCH
I sat in the freezing truck, watching the digital clock on the dashboard slowly tick forward.
5:42 AM.
Through the trees, I could see the massive, lit windows of the Sterling Estate’s drawing room. Shadows moved across the glass. Chloe and Jason had made it inside.
Inside the drawing room, Catherine Sterling sat in a high-backed leather chair by a roaring fireplace. She wore a pristine white pantsuit and a heavy emerald brooch pinned to her lapel. She looked entirely unbothered by the fact that it was dawn and she was orchestrating a murder.
Standing in the corner, clutching a small toy truck and looking utterly terrified, was a little boy with dark curly hair. Leo.
“Well done, Jason,” Catherine smiled coldly as they walked in. She didn't spare a glance for her son’s bruised face. Her predatory gaze locked entirely on Chloe. “I see you finally learned how to handle a stubborn woman.”
Chloe stood tall despite her broken ribs, her ruined wedding dress dripping onto the expensive Persian rug.
“I have the key,” Chloe said, her voice echoing in the large room. “And I’ll sign the papers. But you let the boy leave with Jason right now.”
Catherine laughed, a dry, humorless sound. She stood up and walked slowly toward Chloe.
“You are in no position to negotiate, my dear,” Catherine said, stopping inches from Chloe’s face. “You will give me the key. You will sign the papers. And then, I am going to have my men put you, Jason, and the boy on a very small boat with a very large hole in the hull.”
Jason lunged forward. “Mom, you promised—”
Two massive guards immediately slammed the butts of their rifles into Jason’s stomach, dropping him to his knees on the floor.
“You always were a disappointment, Jason,” Catherine sneered, looking down at him. She turned back to Chloe. “The key. Now.”
Chloe didn't flinch. She reached up to her neck and unclasped the gold locket. She held it out, her eyes fixed on the antique grandfather clock ticking in the corner.
5:44 AM.
One minute left.
Catherine snatched the locket from Chloe’s hand. She popped it open, her eyes gleaming with triumph as she saw the silver federal vault key resting inside.
“Finally,” Catherine breathed, clutching the key. She gestured to a guard holding a clipboard with the renunciation documents. “Sign them.”
Chloe took the pen. She looked at Jason on the floor, then at the terrified little boy in the corner. She slowly brought the pen down to the paper.
Suddenly, every light in the massive estate abruptly cut out.
Plunged into absolute darkness, chaos erupted.
“Don't shoot the girl!” Catherine shrieked over the confusion.
The heavy glass of the French doors shattered inward.
A stun grenade detonated in the center of the room, blinding the guards with a terrifying flash of white light and a concussive boom that rattled my teeth even from the truck.
Through the scope of my own binoculars, I watched Arthur move like a shadow. He didn't waste bullets on warnings. Two suppressed shots dropped the guards standing over Jason.
Chloe instantly threw herself to the floor, exactly as Arthur had instructed, covering her head with her arms.
Jason didn't run for the door. In the pitch black, he scrambled across the floor, throwing his body entirely over little Leo in the corner, shielding his son from the crossfire.
Catherine scrambled backward, screaming for her security team, clutching the silver key to her chest.
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But as the emergency backup lights flickered on, casting an eerie red glow over the ruined drawing room, Catherine realized she was completely alone. Her guards were incapacitated on the floor.
And Arthur Brooks was standing directly in front of her.
