Chapter 6 - The Helipad Confrontation
The force of the helicopter's spinning rotor blades whipped Clara's ruined wedding dress around her legs as they burst out of the tree line. The deafening roar of the engine filled the clearing, blowing dry leaves and dust into the air.
Richard Sterling turned around, his eyes widening in pure disbelief as he saw Julian, Clara, Detective Vance, and young Leo emerging alive from the forest.
"Impossible!" Richard yelled over the engine's roar. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a sleek black handgun.
"Police! Drop your weapon!" Detective Vance shouted, drawing his own service pistol and taking cover behind a large granite boulder.
Richard didn't drop the gun. Instead, he aimed directly at Detective Vance and fired two sharp shots. The bullets ricocheted off the boulder with terrifying metallic cracks. Vance returned fire, striking the helicopter's rear rotor, sending sparks flying and forcing the pilot to cut the engine immediately. The spinning blades slowed to a grinding halt.
Panic set in on Richard's face. He grabbed his heavy briefcase and began sprinting toward the steep cliff edge at the border of the property, where a narrow mountain path led down to the public highway.
"Stay with Leo!" Julian shouted to Clara before sprinting after his father's former lawyer.
Julian tackled Richard near the edge of the rocky precipice. The two men crashed hard onto the dirt, rolling dangerously close to the steep two-hundred-foot drop. Richard swung his briefcase wildly, catching Julian across the jaw and sending him sprawling onto his back.
Richard scrambled to his feet, panting heavily, and leveled his gun directly at Julian's chest. "You should have stayed in the basement, Julian! You were always too weak to run this family!"
"I may be weak," Julian spat, wiping blood from his lip as he looked past Richard's shoulder, "but I'm not the one who forgot about the police backup."
Richard turned his head for a fraction of a second—just long enough for Clara to charge from the side. She swung a heavy wooden branch with all her strength, striking Richard across the wrist. The handgun flew from his grip, tumbling down into the deep canyon below.
Detective Vance rushed forward, tackling the disarmed lawyer to the ground and securing his hands in steel cuffs.
Richard lay in the dirt, breathing heavily, staring up at Clara with pure hatred. "You ruined everything, you foolish girl. You were supposed to just be a pretty bride."
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Clara looked down at him, her eyes cold and unwavering. "I am not a bride. I am Leo's aunt."
As state police cruisers sped up the winding estate driveway to secure the scene, Detective Vance picked up Richard's spilled briefcase. Inside were dozens of forged offshore bank accounts, property deeds... and a small brown envelope marked with Leo's mother's signature.
