Chapter 9
The bright, warm light of the study lamp cast long, terrifying shadows across the room. Sarah stood frozen by the open safe, the red ledger heavy against her scrubs. The air in the room felt instantly suffocating.
"You really thought you could break into my home and steal from me?" Grandmother asked, stepping fully into the room. Her American accent was devoid of panic; she sounded almost bored, a predator playing with trapped prey.
"I'm not stealing," Sarah replied, her voice remarkably steady despite the gun aimed at her heart. "I'm taking back what you stole from Grace. I know what you did to David."
Sabrina laughed, a harsh, ugly sound that rattled the silence. "You don't know anything, you stupid nurse. You're a trespasser. When the police arrive, they'll find a kidnapping fugitive who broke into our home and attacked us. Shooting you is self-defense."
"Connor showed me the video," Sarah stated coldly. She locked eyes with the Grandmother. "I know you paid the coroner to ignore the cut brake lines. I know you siphoned four million dollars into a shell company."
Grandmother’s expression flickered, the absolute confidence cracking for a fraction of a second. She leveled the gun, her finger tightening on the trigger.
"Where is the boy, Sarah?" Grandmother demanded, her voice losing its aristocratic polish. "Where is the tablet?"
"Safe," Sarah lied smoothly, stepping slightly to her left, moving closer to the heavy mahogany desk. "In federal custody. The FBI already has the video. They are waiting for me to bring the ledger. If I don't walk out of here, they raid this house at dawn."
Sabrina hesitated, looking at her mother with sudden fear. "Mom... is she telling the truth?"
"She's bluffing," Grandmother spat, though her grip on the gun wavered slightly. "She wouldn't go to the Feds. She's terrified of losing that brat daughter of hers."
"I am terrified," Sarah agreed, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. "But I'm more terrified of leaving my daughter in a world where you two are still breathing."
With an explosive surge of adrenaline, Sarah didn't run for the door. She grabbed the heavy, glowing desk lamp and hurled it directly at the Grandmother's face.
The heavy brass base struck the older woman in the shoulder, knocking her backward. The gun fired with a deafening roar, the bullet shattering the glass of the French doors behind Sarah.
The room plunged into sudden, chaotic darkness as the lamp shattered on the floor.
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"Get her!" Grandmother screamed in the dark.
Sabrina swung the heavy brass fire poker wildly. The metal grazed Sarah’s arm, tearing the fabric of her scrubs and slicing her skin, but Sarah didn't stop. She clutched the red ledger and lunged for the shattered French doors, diving through the broken glass and rolling onto the stone patio outside.
