Chapter 7: The Marina Showdown
Chapter 7: The Marina Showdown
The rain was pouring heavily at the municipal marina. Lightning flashed across the dark sky, illuminating the rows of luxury yachts tossing in the choppy water.
Grant scrambled down the wooden dock, a duffel bag stuffed with illicit cash slapped against his side. His heart was hammering against his ribs. Everything was gone. His money, his company, his reputation. All because of that quiet, submissive girl he thought he had broken.
He reached his 45-foot yacht, The Sovereign. He threw his bag onto the deck and scrambled up the steps to the flybridge, inserting the key into the ignition.
Nothing happened. The engine didn’t even crank.
“Looking for this?”
A voice cut through the sound of the rain. Grant whirled around, his eyes widening in pure shock.
Standing on the dock, sheltered under a large black umbrella held by Detective Ruiz, was me. In my left hand, I held the primary fuel-injection fuse for his yacht’s engine. I had arrived with the police twenty minutes earlier, and since I knew the boat’s schematics, disabling it took less than thirty seconds.
“Clara!” Grant screamed, rushing to the edge of the boat, his face contorted in a mask of pure madness. “You ruined my life! I’ll kill you!”
He lunged forward, preparing to jump from the deck onto the dock to grab me.
“FREEZE! POLICE! GET YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!”
From behind the shipping containers, a dozen tactical officers materialized, their laser sights painting red dots across Grant’s chest. Spotlights flooded the marina, blinding him.
Grant froze, his foot dangling over the edge. He looked at the guns, then at the stormy sea, and finally at me.
I stood tall, looking up at him. For the first time in eighteen months, I felt absolutely no fear.
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“It’s over, Grant,” I said, my voice carrying over the wind. “You can’t burn your way out of this one.”
Realizing there was no escape, Grant sank to his knees on the wet deck, weeping hysterically as officers boarded the vessel and slammed him into the deck, securing the zip-ties around his wrists.
