Chapter 14 - THE BOAT WITHOUT A DRIVER
Roman rushed toward the controls.
The wheel turned on its own.
The throttle locked.
The boat accelerated into the black water.
Julian opened the engine panel.
“Remote navigation.”
“Can you stop it?”
Daniel asked.
“Not from here.”
Roman tried to break the wheel lock.
It did not move.
Sarah held Maya against her.
Daniel’s mother coughed from the smoke.
“My name is Irina.”
Maya looked at her.
“I thought you were dead.”
“So did I.”
Irina touched Maya’s cheek.
“I have waited a long time to meet you.”
The metal case beeped.
FINAL KEY REQUIRED.
Maya examined it.
There were two hand scanners.
One large.
One small.
Daniel understood.
“It needs both bloodlines.”
“Maya and me?”
“No.”
Irina looked at Roman.
“Sokolov and Vance.”
Roman’s face hardened.
Konstantin’s voice came through the boat speakers.
“Correct.”
The boat turned toward the center of the lake.
A large yacht appeared through the fog.
Konstantin stood on the upper deck.
Valentina stood beside him.
Armed men lined the rails.
Roman looked at the case.
“What is inside?”
Irina answered.
“The original Crown charter.”
Julian went still.
“That document is a myth.”
“No.”
Irina looked at Roman.
“It proves the Crown was built by the Sokolov and Vance families together.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
“Our family helped create it?”
“My father did.”
“Konstantin and I tried to destroy it.”
“But Valentina betrayed us.”
Roman looked toward his mother on the yacht.
“She always does.”
The boat approached the yacht’s loading platform.
Konstantin’s guards aimed weapons at them.
“Open the case,” Konstantin ordered.
Roman looked at Maya.
“No.”
Konstantin lifted a hand.
A sniper laser appeared on Sarah’s chest.
Daniel moved in front of her.
A second laser appeared on Maya.
Roman placed his palm on the large scanner.
The case rejected him.
BLOODLINE INCOMPLETE.
Irina looked at Daniel.
“It needs you.”
Daniel pressed his hand against the scanner.
The first lock opened.
Maya’s scanner lit up.
Sarah shook her head.
“No.”
Maya placed her palm against it.
The case opened.
Inside lay a thin book wrapped in black leather.
A small glass vial rested beside it.
Roman picked up the book.
Konstantin smiled.
“Bring it aboard.”
The boats connected.
Roman stepped onto the yacht first.
Daniel followed with Maya.
Sarah helped Irina.
Julian came last.
Valentina looked at him.
“You disappoint me.”
Julian smiled.
“I learned from you.”
Konstantin reached for the charter.
Roman held it away.
“Release everyone.”
“You are not in a position to negotiate.”
Roman looked at the vial inside the case.
“What is this?”
Irina answered before Konstantin could.
“His cure.”
Konstantin’s expression changed.
Roman noticed.
Daniel picked up the vial.
Konstantin’s skin looked pale beneath the deck lights.
His hands trembled slightly.
Irina smiled coldly.
“Konstantin is dying.”
“The Crown’s medical program created a treatment using our family’s blood markers.”
Maya looked at the vial.
“He needs me to make more.”
Konstantin’s patience vanished.
“Give me the vial.”
Maya snatched it from Daniel’s hand.
Every weapon turned toward her.
Roman stepped between them.
Maya held the vial over the dark water.
“Let my family go.”
Konstantin stared at her.
“You are eight years old.”
“And you’re scared of dying.”
Valentina suddenly pulled a gun.
She aimed it at Maya.
Roman moved.
A shot exploded across the deck.
May you like
The vial slipped from Maya’s fingers.
And vanished over the railing.
