Chapter 9 - The Final Audit
Within twenty minutes of the video upload, the distant, frantic wail of sirens began to echo through the snowy valley.
Local police and federal marshals, tipped off by an anonymous priority dispatch from an encrypted black-ops terminal, finally breached the outer perimeter gates that Jax and Kael had systematically unlocked.
Red and blue emergency lights flashed wildly through the frosted windows, painting the grand foyer in shifting shades of crimson and cobalt.
Pound, pound, pound.
"Federal Marshals! Open the door!" a voice shouted from the porch.
Kael glanced toward the front entrance, then looked at Jax. "Looks like our Uber has arrived."
Jax nodded, then turned his dark, piercing gaze toward Eleanor and Thomas, who were cowering near the dining room table. "If any of you try to follow us, or if so much as a whisper of retaliation reaches our sister... we won't just lock the doors next time. We'll burn the whole foundation down to bedrock. Understood?"
Eleanor nodded frantically, too terrified to speak.
Jax turned to me, his expression softening instantly into the warm, protective warmth of an older brother. He reached out and gently pulled me into a careful, one-armed embrace, avoiding my swollen belly.
"You ready to go home, little sister?" Jax asked softly.
"I am," I breathed, a profound wave of peace washing over me.
Kael stepped forward, draping his own heavy tactical parka over my shoulders to block out the bitter winter chill. Together, my brothers flanked me on either side, guiding me away from the wreckage of my former life.
As the front doors were finally kicked open by federal agents rushing into the foyer with drawn weapons, we slipped out through the side service exit, stepping past the snowbanks and into the waiting warmth of the idling military helicopter.
Behind us, Richard’s desperate, high-pitched screams echoed into the freezing night air as the marshals slapped steel handcuffs onto his wrists.
"Mr. Richard Sterling, you are under arrest for domestic assault, financial fraud, and conspiracy!" an officer's voice boomed through the open doorway.
I settled back into the leather jump seat of the chopper as the cabin door sealed shut, locking out the cold, the cruelty, and the past.
Jax sat across from me, pulling out a secure satellite tablet to check our flight path, while Kael settled into the copilot seat beside the pilot.
"Where to, boss?" Kael asked over the intercom.
May you like
I looked down at my hands—no longer shaking, no longer bleeding, but steady and strong. I placed both palms over my belly, feeling the gentle, reassuring kick of my baby.
"Home," I said quietly, looking out the window as the magnificent, burning estate vanished into the snowy Alaskan night. "Let's go home."
