Chapter 9 - The Reckoning
"Useless?" I asked, looking Jade dead in the eye. "I worked two jobs to help pay for your private college tuition. I cooked, I cleaned, I took care of this house while you spent thousands of dollars on designer clothes and illegal gambling. And when you ruined your life, you decided my freedom was a small price to pay." "Shut up!" my father growled, taking a threatening step toward me. "Give me that drive right now, Ivy! Victor will be here in five minutes! If he doesn't get what he wants, none of us walk out of here alive!" "He's already here," a dark voice announced from the open front doorway. We all turned. Victor Sterling stepped into the foyer, flanked by two towering, armed enforcers. He was dressed in a tailored charcoal suit, his eyes cold and calculating as he scanned the room. "Well, well," Victor purred, stepping into the living room. "The dutiful daughter returns. I must admit, Ivy, you've caused me a great deal of trouble this weekend." "Victor," my father stammered, backing away toward the fireplace. "She has the drive! Take it, take her, and leave us out of this! We honored our end of the agreement!" Victor let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "Honored your end? You promised me an unsuspecting girl sitting quietly in her bedroom. Instead, you gave me a ghost who ran away, and a crime scene that brought half the police department to my doorstep." Victor turned his gaze onto me, holding out his hand. "Hand over the drive, Ivy. And maybe I'll let you choose which windowless room you live in for the next ten years." I looked at Victor, then turned my gaze to my mother, father, and sister, who were staring at me with cold, expectant demand—waiting for me to surrender my life so they could return to their comfortable, parasitic existence. I smiled—a slow, serene, and radiant smile. "No," I said softly. "I don't think so." I reached into my collar and pulled out the tiny, glowing green button of the police wiretap transmitter hidden beneath my shirt. "Execute the warrant!" I shouted into the mic. Before Victor or my father could react, the large bay windows of the living room shattered inward in a shower of glass! BOOM! BOOM! Flashbang grenades detonated with blinding light and deafening thunder. "FEDERAL AGENTS! DON'T MOVE! GET ON THE GROUND!" Dozens of heavily armed SWAT officers poured through the shattered windows and front door, weapons trained on the room. Victor's enforcers were slammed to the floor before they could draw their sidearms. Victor was tackled against the coffee table, hard steel handcuffs clicking around his wrists within seconds. My father screamed as an officer forced him to his knees. My mother and Jade shrieked in terror, collapsing onto the rug as federal marshals pinned them down. In the middle of the chaos, Officer Reid stepped through the smoke, pulling me gently behind his armored vest and shielding me from the noise.
