Meilin’s vision narrowed to a pinprick of white light as the chemical solvent bit through the outer layer of her crimson fiberglass cast, the sharp, chemical sting burning against her bare skin. Above her, the angle of the water shifted sharply, sending a violent wave crashing against her face as the spa floor began its agonizing tilt toward the jagged rocks five hundred feet below.
«Julian!» she tried to scream, but her mouth filled with chlorinated water, choking her as her fingers scraped frantically against the underside of the sliding cover.
On the deck, Julian lost his footing as the teak wood pitched forward at a twenty-degree angle. He slammed hard into the glass railing, his ribs catching the metal frame with a sickening thud that left him gasping for air. Blood dripped freely from his scraped knuckles onto the polished boards.
«Eleanor!» he roared, spitting a mix of sweat and blood as he dragged himself up.
The matriarch was already halfway across the patio, her ivory silk jumpsuit pristine against the gathering twilight. She didn’t turn around. Instead, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a small black satellite communicator, and pressed a single button.
Instantly, the heavy iron security gates at the estate’s main entrance slammed shut with a definitive, electronic clang, locking them inside the mountain fortress.
«You can’t do this!» Julian yelled, scrambling up the sloping, vibrating deck toward her. «She’s pregnant with your grandchild! Have you lost your damn mind?!»
Eleanor paused at the threshold of the French doors, her cold emerald earrings catching the ambient security lights. She turned her head just enough for him to see her chillingly calm expression.
«The heir is safe,» Eleanor said, her voice cutting cleanly through the roaring hydraulic whine. «The legal paperwork transferring the entire estate to my personal foundation was signed by your father a week before he died. All I need now is the child—and a clean slate.»
Before Julian could lunge for her, the French doors clicked shut, the heavy deadbolts throwing themselves into place from the inside.
On the tilting spa, the water level dropped rapidly as thousands of gallons began spilling over the southern lip, cascading down the cliffside into the darkening abyss. The massive composite cover groaned under the shifted weight, its electronic locking mechanism jamming halfway as the frame warped against the tilt.
Inside the water, Meilin realized the tilting mechanism was creating an air pocket in the highest corner of the sealed enclosure.
With her lungs screaming for oxygen, she kicked off the bottom with her good leg, using her dead, cast-heavy left leg as a brutal counterweight. She slammed her shoulder against the underside of the warped lid, her head breaking the surface just as the water level dropped.
She gasped, pulling a ragged, burning breath of air into her chest. The air smelled of chlorine and hot hydraulic fluid.
Through a narrow two-inch gap where the warped cover had separated from the frame, Meilin saw Julian’s face slam down against the edge, his eyes wide with terror and desperation.
«Meilin! Can you hear me?!» he yelled, jamming his fingers into the narrow gap to pry it open.
«The cast…» Meilin coughed violently, spitting water as blood trickled from her nose. «The cast, Julian! The drive is inside the fiberglass—she knows!»
Julian didn’t hesitate. He grabbed a heavy metal patio chair, hoisted it above his head, and smashed it down onto the reinforced acrylic cover with a deafening crash. A spiderweb of cracks exploded across the surface.
«Hold on!» he screamed, lifting the chair for a second, harder blow.
Suddenly, the red security light above the patio door flashed a frantic, rhythmic strobe.
From the shadows of the lower garden pathway, a sharp metallic click echoed through the trees, followed by the unmistakable sound of a rifle bolt sliding home. A red laser dot cut through the dusk, painting a bright, steady circle directly across Julian’s chest.
From the shadows of the lower garden pathway, a sharp metallic click echoed through the trees, followed by the unmistakable sound of a rifle bolt sliding home. A red laser dot cut through the dusk, painting a bright, steady circle directly across Julian’s chest.