Chapter 8 - The Fall of Sterling
BOOM!
The massive glass skylight at the very top of the Drake Hotel ballroom shattered inward in a spectacular shower of glittering glass shards.
Four heavy tactical rappelling ropes dropped down through the ceiling.
Vance and eight elite Whitmore Security operators descended down the ropes like dark shadows, firing suppressed submachine guns before their boots even hit the marble floor.
Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!
Sterling’s mercenaries on the balconies were taken out in seconds, dropping their weapons as they collapsed onto the carpeted walkways.
The crowd screamed, scattering toward the edges of the room.
Sterling gasped, stumbling backward, aiming his pistol directly at Harrison’s head. “DIE, YOU—”
Claire didn't hesitate. She grabbed a heavy silver ice bucket from a nearby catering table and threw it with all her strength directly into Sterling’s face.
The heavy silver bucket struck Sterling across the nose, spraying ice and cold water everywhere.
Sterling shrieked in pain, dropping his pistol as he clutched his bleeding face.
Harrison closed the distance in a fraction of a second. He grabbed Sterling by his lapels, lifting the older man clean off his feet, driving him violently back against the marble pillar.
CRACK!
Sterling’s breath rushed out of his lungs in a ragged gasp. He looked at Harrison with wide, terrified eyes as the barrel of Harrison’s matte-black pistol pressed directly against his forehead.
“You killed my wife,” Harrison growled, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, apocalyptic rage. “You tortured Arthur Bennett. You threatened my son.”
“Harrison… please…” Sterling stammered, blood streaming down his chin. “We were partners… we built Whitmore Bio-Pharma together…”
“My wife built Whitmore Bio-Pharma,” Harrison whispered into Sterling’s ear. “You were just the parasite who tried to eat it from the inside.”
Sirens wailed outside the hotel as Chicago SWAT teams, alerted by Vance’s external signal, blew open the front iron shutters with breaching charges. Fifty armed police officers and federal agents poured into the room, securing the perimeter.
Harrison looked into Sterling’s terrified eyes for a long, agonizing five seconds. He had the power to end Richard Sterling’s life right then and there.
Then he looked back at Claire, who was standing five feet away, watching him with calm, trusting eyes.
Harrison took a deep breath. He slowly lowered his weapon.
“Federal agents!” Harrison called out, throwing Sterling onto the marble floor at the feet of the approaching SWAT captain. “Take him. The hard drives in his briefcase contain complete confessions for murder, corporate fraud, and dark bio-testing.”
As federal agents slammed Sterling face-down onto the floor, slapping heavy steel handcuffs onto his wrists, Sterling looked up at Harrison, screaming in defeat.
“YOU’LL NEVER BE HAPPY, WHITMORE! SHE’S GONE! EVELYN IS DEAD!”
Harrison didn't answer. He turned his back on Richard Sterling forever.
May you like
He walked over to Claire, taking her shaking hands into his own, pulling her tight against his chest in front of the entire room.
“It’s over, Claire,” Harrison murmured, burying his face in her hair. “It’s finally over.”
