Chapter 10: The Void
The Bentley pulled up to a secluded harbor on the edge of the city. The rain was coming down in sheets now, blurring the lights of the cargo ships in the distance. Jane stepped out of the car, the white blouse clinging to her skin, turning almost transparent in the downpour.
She walked toward the edge of the pier, staring out at the black, churning water. The adrenaline had completely left her system, leaving behind a hollow, agonizing void. She was entirely alone. She had traded a domestic prison for a death sentence on the run.
Behind her, the car door opened. Heavy footsteps splashed on the wet concrete, approaching slowly.
Jane didn't turn around. She recognized the gait. It wasn't her driver.
"You played a bold game, Jane," Elias's voice cut through the sound of the rain. The Vanguard fixer. He must have intercepted her driver.
"I did what had to be done," Jane said, her voice barely a whisper, swallowed by the storm.
"Your father doesn't see it that way. You embarrassed him. You destroyed a half-billion-dollar alliance."
Jane finally turned. Elias stood ten feet away, water running down his stoic face. In his right hand, leveled squarely at her chest, was a suppressed pistol.
"Is this the end of the line, Elias?" she asked, offering a sad, empty smile. She realized then the true tragedy of her choice. She had become exactly the kind of monster she had hated. She had used the same ruthless violence, the same disregard for life, to solve her problems.
"Your father says goodbye," Elias said quietly.
May you like
Jane closed her eyes, turning her face back toward the ocean. The wind howled, sounding almost like Eleanor's screaming, or perhaps Arthur's final, gasping breath. She took a deep breath of the cold, salty air, savoring the absolute freedom of it, even as the mechanical click of the gun's hammer echoed in the dark.
She waited for the flash.
