Chapter 6 - Out of the Ashes
The smoke was blinding, burning my throat and eyes. Through the haze, I saw Marcus firing his weapon through the shattered window, his muzzle flashes illuminating the chaos.
"Edward! Take Isabella and get out the back!" Marcus shouted, coughing violently.
I grabbed Isabella's arm, pulling her off the bed. She was hysterical, screaming in terror. I dragged her toward the small bathroom window at the back of the room. I smashed the frosted glass with a chair, cleared the frame, and hoisted her through.
"Go! Run to the woods!" I ordered.
Just as I was about to climb through myself, a heavy hand grabbed my shoulder, pulling me backward. I crashed into the bathroom sink.
It was one of Richard's tactical men, wearing a gas mask and tactical gear. He raised a stun baton, but I ducked beneath his swing, driving my shoulder into his midsection. We crashed into the shower curtain, tearing it down.
I grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the porcelain tub until he dropped the baton. I grabbed the heavy ceramic toilet tank lid and swung it with all my might. It shattered against his helmet, knocking him unconscious.
I scrambled out of the bathroom window into the cold night air.
Marcus was already there, holding Isabella. He had a bloody cut on his forehead, but his eyes were sharp. "There are four more of them. We need to move, now!"
We sprinted through the dense brush behind the motel, heading toward the highway where I had parked the Land Rover. Behind us, we could hear the shouts of Richard's men and the barking of tracking dogs.
"They're tracking her phone!" Marcus realized, looking at Isabella.
"I don't have a phone!" she cried.
"Your watch," I said, noticing the high-end fitness tracker on her wrist. "It has GPS."
I grabbed her wrist, ripped the watch off, and threw it into a passing coal train that was rumbling along the tracks nearby. "That should buy us some time."
We threw ourselves into the Land Rover. I started the engine, threw it into reverse, and sped away just as a black SUV pulled into the gravel lot behind us.
As we tore down the dark highway, the adrenaline began to fade, leaving a cold, hard clarity in its place.
"Isabella," I said, looking at her in the rearview mirror. "You are going to help me destroy Richard. You are going to sign a full confession. Every clinic, every doctor, every bribe he paid. You will testify."
She nodded, tears streaming down her face. "I'll do whatever you want, Edward. Just... please don't let him kill me."
"He won't," I said. "But we have to move fast. He's going to try to freeze my assets by morning."
"Let him try," Marcus said, pulling out a secure satellite tablet. "I've spent the last three days gathering evidence of Richard's money laundering through the Drummond charitable foundations. He's been using the charity to fund the illegal clinic in Switzerland."
"We don't just take him down legally," I said, my hands tightening on the steering wheel. "We take him down publicly. I want the whole world to see what he did."
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"The annual Drummond Gala is in three days," Marcus noted, a grim smile spreading across his face. "Every major shareholder, every board member, and the entire national press will be in that ballroom. Richard is planning to use that night to announce his temporary ascension to the chairmanship due to your 'medical leave.'"
"Then we will give them a show," I said. "We will show them the real heirs of the Drummond estate."
