Chapter 7 - The Final Stand in the Garage
As Marcus lunged, I lifted the heavy nail gun with both hands, disengaged the safety mechanism against the edge of the workbench, and pulled the trigger repeatedly.
The loud, rhythmic thwack-thwack-thwack of the pneumatic tool echoed through the garage. Three heavy, three-inch steel framing nails tore through the air. Two struck Marcus squarely in the right shoulder, shattering the bone and causing him to drop the wrench with a scream of agony. The third nail caught him in the thigh, sending him crashing down onto his knees on the hard concrete floor.
He clutched his shoulder, groaning violently, completely incapacitated. I didn't waste another second. I grabbed the heavy roll of industrial duct tape from the workbench, threw his arms around the structural steel support beam of the garage, and wrapped the tape around his torso and arms until he was completely immobilized.
"You're going to prison for the rest of your life, Marcus," I whispered in his ear, before grabbing Sophie’s hand and running out of the garage into the night.
As we reached the edge of the property, the signal jammer’s range finally faded. My phone instantly exploded with a barrage of delayed text messages, emails, and notifications. I immediately dialed 911, my voice cracking as I reported the arson and the attack.
Within minutes, the distant wail of sirens cut through the night air. Neighbors began running out of their homes, gasping at the sight of the inferno that used to be our house. I sat on the curb, wrapping Sophie in a blanket a kind neighbor had provided, watching the flashing red and blue lights reflect off the smoke-choked sky.
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A senior detective, Detective Miller, approached me, his face grim as he took my initial statement. "Mrs. Vance, this wasn't a normal fire. Our team found the polycarbonate shields on the windows. Where is your husband?"
"My husband is running," I said, handing him my phone, which still displayed the digital trail of Ryan’s betrayal from the study computer cache I had synced to my personal cloud before it went dark. "But I know exactly where he’s going."
