Chapter 6 - The Confrontation at the Pier
The police cars skidded to a halt on the wet concrete of Pier 4, blocking the entrance to the dock. Officers leaped out, weapons drawn, shouting commands through bullhorns. "Evelyn Vance! Chloe Vance! Step away from the vessel and put your hands in the air!"
From the deck of the yacht, a figure emerged into the spotlight of the police cruisers. It was Evelyn, her expensive fur coat drenched by the rain, her hair plastered to her face. She held a heavy steel flare gun in her right hand, her expression completely unhinged. Beside her, Chloe was crying hysterically, clutching a designer duffel bag filled with stolen cash and jewelry.
"Stay back!" Evelyn screamed, her voice cracking over the roar of the engines and the wind. "If anyone steps onto this dock, I'll fire this into the fuel tanks! I’ll blow this whole pier to hell! I am not going to prison because of that little brat!" She pointed a trembling finger at me as I stepped out of my father’s car.
Richard moved in front of me, his massive frame shielding me from her sight. "Evelyn! It’s over! Look around you. You have nowhere to go. Drop the weapon and let Chloe go. Don't ruin your daughter's life along with your own!"
"She helped me!" Evelyn laughed maliciously, a sound that sent chills down my spine. "Chloe helped me edit the videos! She helped me lock Maya away! She loved the money just as much as I did! We are a team, Richard, and you can't stop us!"
Hearing her mother completely incriminate her, Chloe let out a loud shriek of terror. "Mom, stop! The police know everything! Just drop it! I don't want to die!" Chloe tried to pull the flare gun away from her mother’s grip.
"Get off me, you weak little fool!" Evelyn yelled, shoving Chloe violently away.
Chloe lost her footing on the wet, slick deck of the yacht. She tumbled backward over the low safety railing, screaming as she fell into the churning, freezing black water between the massive boat and the concrete pier.
The duffel bag of stolen money burst open, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash scattering into the wind like useless autumn leaves, floating away on the dark river.
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"Help! I can't swim! Help me!" Chloe choked, her head bobbing beneath the surface as the heavy currents threatened to pull her under the yacht’s massive propellers.
Evelyn froze, looking at the water, then back at the police. In that moment of pure selfishness, she didn't dive in to save her own child. Instead, she turned toward the yacht’s control cabin, preparing to throttle the engines forward and abandon her daughter to escape.
