Chapter 13 - THE PRICE OF A KANE
“Let her go.”
Raymond smiled.
“There he is.”
Everett stood perfectly still.
“The boy I trained.”
“Let her go.”
“You’ve said that twice.”
Raymond walked closer.
“Your father had one weakness too.”
Everett’s eyes stayed on Willa.
“What?”
“Family.”
Raymond nodded toward her.
“And now you’ve got one.”
Willa’s heart hammered.
The man behind her pushed the gun harder against her skull.
Raymond placed documents on a table.
“Sign over Kane Transportation.”
Everett laughed once.
“You’re still chasing paperwork?”
“I want legitimacy.”
“You murdered people for legitimacy?”
“I built that company.”
Everett walked toward the table.
Willa shook her head.
“No.”
“Quiet.”
“Everett, don’t.”
Raymond looked amused.
“He will.”
Everett picked up the pen.
Then Willa said, “He already knows.”
Raymond frowned.
“Knows what?”
She looked at Everett.
“The slaughterhouse has an old fire system.”
Everett’s eyes flickered upward.
Raymond turned.
That was enough.
Willa stomped backward onto the gunman’s foot and drove her elbow into his throat.
Everett flipped the table.
Gunfire exploded.
Willa dove behind a steel column.
Everett tackled one man.
Another raised his weapon.
Then the building erupted with deafening alarms.
Sprinklers blasted water from the ceiling.
Steam and rust filled the air.
Visibility dropped.
Raymond shouted, “KILL THEM!”
Everett crawled toward Willa.
“You planned that?”
She smiled breathlessly.
“Former nurse.”
“That explains nothing.”
“I read the building inspection report.”
A bullet sparked against the floor.
They ran.
Outside, sirens approached.
Raymond stared toward the loading dock.
“How?”
Willa held up her phone.
“I called federal agents before we came.”
Everett stared at her.
“You told me you didn’t.”
“I lied.”
“You’re getting very good at that.”
“I learned from your family.”
Federal agents surrounded the building.
Raymond ran toward a side exit.
Everett chased him.
“EVERETT!” Willa shouted.
Raymond reached a catwalk above the old processing floor.
Everett caught him.
The two men slammed into the railing.
Raymond punched Everett’s ribs.
Everett stumbled.
“You were never strong enough,” Raymond hissed.
Everett drove him into the rail.
“You spent ten years hiding.”
Raymond pulled a knife.
Willa saw it.
“Everett!”
The blade flashed.
Everett grabbed Raymond’s wrist.
They struggled.
The rusted railing groaned.
Then snapped.
Raymond fell.
His hand caught the edge.
Everett grabbed his wrist.
Raymond dangled twenty feet above the concrete.
He looked up.
“You won’t let me die.”
Everett’s face was unreadable.
“You sure?”
Raymond laughed nervously.
“You’re your father’s son.”
Everett held him for another second.
Then pulled him up.
Federal agents rushed forward.
Raymond stared at him.
“Why?”
Everett looked toward Willa.
“Because she taught me surviving isn’t the same thing as becoming you.”
Raymond was handcuffed.
It was over.
Or so Willa thought.
Then an agent approached.
“Mrs. Kane?”
“Yes?”
“We need to speak with you.”
“About what?”
The agent hesitated.
“Your mother.”
Willa’s stomach dropped.
May you like
“There’s been an incident at her care facility.”
Cliffhanger: Raymond was finally captured, but Willa was about to face the one loss she could never fight with evidence or guns.
