- 11.
Ryder ignored her, his intense gaze fixed on me. “Blair, anything you want to say?”
Ryder’s second–in–command forced me to my knees before Ryder. Ryder waved his hand, and young man in glasses began typing furiously on the computer. Chloe had finally caught me. She kept shrieking, demanding that Ryder punish me severely.
a
I shook my head, as if giving up on defending myself. Chloe grew even more triumphant. When I wasn’t looking, she abruptly slapped me.
“You ungrateful snake! The Sterlings raised you all these years, even after finding out you weren’t family by blood, your brothers never cast you aside. Is this how you repay their kindness?”
Carried away by her anger, she raised her hand to hit me again, but I swiftly blocked it.
“Boss, the computer’s records are clean. No problems here.”
Chloe’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Impossible! I clearly saw her furtively switching the computer screen! She must have tampered with it!”
“Enough!” Ryder roared, standing up and personally helping me to my feet.
touched my slightly swollen cheek. “I’m innocent. What about you? What have you been sneaking out of your room to do in the middle of the night?”
I didn’t need to say more. Soon, the subordinates reported her late–night rendezvous with the second–in–command. Ryder immediately pulled out his handgun and fired, hitting the second–in–command in his lower abdomen.
Chloe screamed, collapsing to the ground. Soon, a strange smell emanated from below her.
1
She was imprisoned by Ryder again, this time in the base’s basement. I heard it was infested with cockroaches and rats, and the perpetually damp air made it reek like a sewer.
8:38 PM
<
This time, I didn’t go to see her. I quietly waited for nightfall. Three AM was the time people were most prone to fatigue and most likely to let down their guard.
Suddenly, the base’s main gate crashed down with a deafening roar. Numerous SWAT teams in tactical gear, armed to the teeth, stormed the base, engaging in a fierce gunfight with the guards.
I rushed to Ryder’s room, crying and begging him to protect me. Ryder was about to escape through a secret passage, but had no choice but to take me with him. The police pursued relentlessly. I nervously hid behind him, watching as the officers closed in from all sides. When he wasn’t looking, I suddenly shoved him.
His unexpected movement was perceived as an act of resistance and aggression. A barrage of bullets simultaneously pierced his chest. Before he died, his eyes widened, and he pointed at me, never closing them again.
They took me back to the base courtyard. All the criminals from the organization were under control, and the people who had been held captive in the adjacent compound were being rescued.
A soft female voice spoke behind me, “Your location pin was accurate.”
I turned, a small, knowing smile on my face. “Cassidy, you arrived quickly.”
