Chapter 8 - The Price of a Stolen Childhood
Garrison hit the crushed stone with a heavy thud, the wind knocked completely out of his lungs. I pressed my knee into his sternum, driving the muzzle of my sidearm firmly beneath his chin.
“Tell your men to drop their weapons, Garrison,” I commanded, my voice cold as ice. “Or the next sound you hear will be the last.”
Through the blinding glare of the strobe lights, the four private contractors hesitated, their weapons lowered as they saw their commander pinned beneath my boot.
“Drop them!” Garrison coughed out, his face contorted in pain. “Drop the damn guns!”
The contractors unclipped their sidearms and tossed them onto the gravel. Within thirty seconds, the distant roar of marine engines echoed across the river. Two high-speed patrol boats from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, accompanied by armed federal marshals I had contacted via satellite relay an hour before our landing, pulled up to the private dock.
The marshals swarmed the driveway, subduing the contractors and cuffing Garrison Pike.
Federal Marshal Henderson, a veteran with a weather-beaten face and iron-gray hair, walked over to where I stood. “Callahan Mercer? We received your emergency transponder signal. We’ve secured the perimeter and seized the signal-jamming equipment on the access road.”
“Thank you, Marshal,” I breathed, lowering my weapon and handing it over to one of the deputies for evidence logging. “Check Garrison Pike’s encrypted burner phone. You’ll find direct communications with Richard Vance and Julianna Vance coordinating an unlawful interstate abduction.”
Marshal Henderson nodded grimly. “We’ve had Richard Vance under federal financial surveillance for six months regarding offshore money laundering. This just gave us the probable cause we needed to execute federal arrest warrants.”
As the marshals loaded Garrison and his men into transport vans, I walked back into the house, down the basement stairs, and unlocked the heavy vault door.
Rowena sat in the corner, clutching Leo tightly against her chest, her eyes wide with terror. When she saw me standing in the doorway, uninjured, she collapsed in a wave of overwhelming relief, burying her face in her hands as silent sobs wracked her body.
“It’s over,” I said softly, kneeling beside them and wrapping my arms around both of them. “Garrison is in federal custody. The marshals have secured the entire estate.”
Leo pulled back, looking at my bruised knuckles, then reached into his pocket. He pulled out a slightly crumpled daisy from his mother’s flower basket that he had kept in his pocket all along.
“For you,” Leo said, holding out the crushed white flower. “Because you protected Mommy.”
Tears burned my eyes as I took the small, battered flower from his hand. “Thank you, Leo. It’s the best thing I’ve ever been given.”
Rowena looked at me, her eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and profound gratitude. “Callahan… what happens now? Arthur still controls the board. He still has the power to destroy everything you built.”
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I stood up, helping Rowena to her feet, while lifting Leo onto my hip.
“My father built his empire on secrets and intimidation,” I said, my voice hardening with absolute resolve. “Tomorrow morning, I'm going to New York. And I'm going to expose every single lie he has told for the last thirty years.”
