Chapter 8 - The Twin Stand
Vincent stood up, his suit coat torn, his knuckles bruised and bloody, but his eyes were blazing with a cold, terrifying vengeance.
He didn't hesitate. With one swift motion, he grabbed Mrs. Gable by her collar and shoved her back against the wet stone wall, disarming her completely.
“Thirty years, Edith,” Vincent hissed, his voice trembling with deep, personal betrayal. “My mother considered you family.”
“Your mother was a fool!” Mrs. Gable spat back, clutching her broken shoulder. “And so are you!”
Behind them, Vance and his two remaining men burst out of the tunnel entrance onto the rocky ledge, guns drawn.
“End of the line, boys!” Vance shouted, his voice echoing loudly in the sea cave over the roar of the water. “Nobody leaves this cave!”
Vincent didn't look back. He shoved Mrs. Gable to the ground and stepped up beside his twin brother, shoulder to shoulder.
Two identical men. One immaculate despite the dirt, one scarred and bleeding, standing side by side against the dark tide.
“You still know how to drive a boat, Evan?” Vincent asked quietly, his eyes fixed on Vance’s men.
“Better than you,” Evan rasped out, a faint, dangerous smirk touching his lips for the first time.
“Take Savannah, the child, and the deeds,” Vincent ordered, handing his remaining magazine of ammunition to his brother. “Get out into the bay. The Coast Guard cutter I called from Providence will be waiting two miles offshore.”
“I’m not leaving you here alone, Vincent,” Evan stated firmly.
“You’re not leaving him at all!” Vance yelled, raising his revolver.
Savannah didn't wait for the gunfire to start again. She sprinted across the slick rocks toward the motorboat, clutching Lucy in one arm and grabbing the waterproof case holding the harbor deeds with her free hand.
She threw herself into the passenger seat of the boat, pulling Lucy down into the narrow footwell beneath the console.
“Evan! Now!” Savannah screamed over the roar of the waves.
Evan turned, fired three rapid suppression shots at Vance’s men, driving them behind a rock outcrop, then leaped into the driver’s seat of the boat. He hit the ignition button.
The twin outboard engines roared to life with a deep, thunderous growl, echoing wildly in the enclosed cave.
Vincent grabbed the iron cleat rope, tossing it into the boat, then turned to face Vance, pulling a second, small backup pistol from his ankle holster.
“Go!” Vincent shouted over his shoulder. “I’ll hold the ledge!”
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“No!” Evan roared, reaching out with his good arm, grabbing his brother by the strap of his shoulder holster, and dragging him backward into the moving boat just as Vance opened fire.
Bullets pinged off the aluminum hull of the boat as it surged forward, slicing through the deep, dark water of the cave and launching out into the open, storm-tossed waters of Blackwater Bay.
