Chapter 7 - Face to Face
The wooden gangway creaked softly beneath our boots as we boarded The Sea Sovereign.
The yacht was quiet, the gentle slap of river water against the fiberglass hull providing a rhythmic, deceptive calm.
We stepped through the heavy glass sliding doors into the main salon. The room was breathtakingly luxurious—white leather sofas, polished mahogany paneling, crystal decanters of scotch, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the dark marshland.
Standing near the far bar, holding a crystal glass of red wine, was Evelyn.
She was dressed in an ivory silk jumpsuit, her hair styled in a flawless platinum bob, looking every bit the high-society billionaire she had spent three years pretending to be.
When she turned around, expecting to see Marcus pushing a bound Leo through the door, her smile froze.
She saw me step into the room first.
And then, stepping up beside me, tall, straight-backed, and staring at her with eyes full of cold, unyielding fire, was Leo.
The crystal wine glass slipped from Evelyn’s fingers, smashing violently against the hardwood floor, dark red liquid pooling across the cream-colored rug like blood.
"You..." Evelyn breathed, her face draining of all color, her hands shaking as she backed against the bar. "How... how are you..."
"Hello, Evelyn," Leo said, his voice deep, resonant, and devoid of fear. "Or should I call you Victoria?"
Evelyn’s eyes darted frantically past us toward the open gangway. "Where is Marcus?! Marcus!"
"Marcus is currently tied to a pole on Tybee Island," I said, stepping further into the salon and closing the glass door behind us. "He was surprisingly unhelpful once I put a gun to his head."
Evelyn swallowed hard, her composure cracking like cheap glass, revealing the ruthless, desperate predator underneath. She reached behind the bar, her hand reaching toward a hidden drawer.
"I wouldn't do that, Evelyn," I warned, lifting Marcus’s suppressed pistol from my coat pocket and aiming it directly at her chest. "I’ve already used this weapon once tonight. I won't hesitate to use it again."
Evelyn slowly pulled her hand back, her breathing becoming fast and shallow. She looked at Leo, her eyes narrowing into slits of pure, venomous malice.
"You should have stayed dead, Leo," she spat, her voice dropping into a harsh, cruel rasp. "You were always too weak for this world. Too soft. Too trusting. You thought I actually loved you? You were nothing but a step on my ladder!"
"I know," Leo said softly, stepping closer to her, ignoring the barrel of the gun in my hand. "I know I was a fool. I loved a woman who didn't exist. But you made one critical mistake, Evelyn."
"And what was that?" she sneered.
"You left me alive," Leo said. "And you touched my daughter."
Evelyn let out a bitter, mocking laugh. "Your daughter? Lily is my ticket to twelve million dollars! Do you think anyone is going to believe a word you say? You’re a dead man! A homeless vagrant who kidnapped a child from Charleston! I have the legal papers! I have the police in my pocket!"
"You had the police in your pocket," I interrupted, setting my laptop on the mahogany table in the center of the room. "And as for the twelve million dollars..."
I pressed the red 'EXECUTE' button on the screen.
A sharp, digital chime echoed through the salon. The screen flashed bright green, displaying a formal notice from the Federal Reserve Escrow Division:
ALERT: DUAL-KEY TRUST OVERRIDE CONFIRMED. ALL ASSOCIATED ACCOUNTS UNDER 'VICTORIA STERLING' ARE PERMANENTLY FROZEN PENDING FEDERAL FORENSIC AUDIT.
Evelyn stared at the screen, her eyes wide with sudden, staggering horror. "No... no, no, no! What did you do?!"
"I froze you out, Evelyn," I said, smiling coldly. "You have no money. You have no boat. You have no escape."
Evelyn let out a hysterical scream of rage, reaching beneath the bar counter, pulling out a small snub-nosed revolver, and leveling it directly at my face.
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"I’ll kill you both!" she shrieked. "I’ll kill you both and throw your bodies into the river!"
Before she could pull the trigger, the dark glass windows of the yacht were suddenly blown out in a blinding, deafening explosion of white light and thunderous sound.
