Chapter 7 - The Ambush
The heavy steel bucket struck Julian’s kneecap with a sickening crunch.
"Agh!" Julian shrieked, his leg buckling beneath him. His weapon discharged with a muffled *cough*, the bullet sparking harmlessly off the marble floor.
Nathaniel moved like lightning.
Before Julian could recover his aim, Nathaniel crossed the distance in a single stride. He caught Julian’s wrist with his left hand, wrenching it upward until the bone snapped, sending the suppressed pistol clattering across the wet floor. With his right fist, Nathaniel delivered a devastating blow straight into Julian’s jaw, knocking the traitorous attorney unconscious instantly.
"You insolent bastard!" Arthur Sterling roared, raising his heavy silver-tipped cane to strike Nathaniel from behind.
Rose scrambled forward across the rain-slicked floor, kicking the fallen pistol toward the railing, out of Arthur's reach. "Nathaniel, watch out!"
Nathaniel turned, caught the silver cane mid-swing with his bare hand, and wrenched it violently from the older man's grasp. He snapped the cane in half over his knee and tossed the splintered wood over the railing into the abyss.
Arthur stumbled backward, terror finally replacing his arrogant sneer. "Nathaniel... wait! Let's be reasonable! I can give you the offshore accounts! I can give you Victoria!"
Nathaniel stepped toward him, his eyes completely black with fury. He grabbed Arthur by the lapels of his expensive cashmere coat, hauling the trembling magnate off his feet until Arthur was dangling backward over the exact same glass railing where Eleanor had hung hours before.
"Nathaniel, please!" Arthur wailed, clutching Nathaniel's wrists, his shoes kicking wildly over empty air. "I have a heart condition! Don't do this!"
"You tried to kill my mother," Nathaniel whispered, his voice like the grinding of tectonic plates. "You sent snipers to my home. You tried to ruin an innocent girl who did nothing but show kindness."
"Nathaniel, stop!"
Rose's voice cut through the howling wind.
She stood behind him, clutching the black hard drive tightly against her chest. Her face was pale, rain plastering her dark hair to her cheeks, but her eyes were steady.
"Don't do it," Rose pleaded softly. "If you drop him, you're the monster they said you were. You'll spend the rest of your life in prison, and they win. Eleanor needs her son. Don't throw your life away for garbage like him."
Nathaniel’s chest heaved. Every muscle in his arms strained as he held the trembling billionaire over the eighty-two-story drop. The rain poured over them in sheets.
For five agonizing seconds, nobody moved.
Then, with a roar of disgust, Nathaniel hurled Arthur Sterling forward onto the hard marble floor. Arthur collapsed into a pathetic heap, sobbing and clutching his chest.
Nathaniel walked back to Rose. Without a word, he reached out, wrapped his strong arm around her waist, and pulled her tight against his chest. Rose leaned into him, burying her face into his wet jacket, feeling the powerful, steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
"You saved me again," Nathaniel murmured against her hair.
"We make a good team," Rose whispered back, offering a faint, trembling smile.
Nathaniel pulled away slightly, cupping her cold cheek with his warm palm. His thumb gently brushed away a mixture of rain and tears. "Let's finish this."
He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a direct line.
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"Detective Ward," Nathaniel said coldly into the receiver. "I am on the rooftop of Callaway Tower. I have Julian Vance and Arthur Sterling detained at gunpoint. And I have the footage that is going to put Victoria Sterling on death row. Bring the paddy wagon."
***
