Chapter 11 - The Ultimate Ultimatum
David stared at the phone screen, his breath catching in his throat as he watched Lily stir on the motel bed, completely unaware of the poison slowly dripping into her IV line through a rigged medical pump—a pump operated remotely by someone standing just out of frame in the motel room.
"You monsters," David growled, lunging forward with a sudden burst of rage.
Before he could take two steps, two masked figures emerged from the shadows of the porch, tackling him violently to the muddy ground. The breath exploded from his lungs as a heavy boot pressed down against the back of his neck, pinning him into the wet earth. Sarah walked over slowly, standing above him with a cold, detached expression.
"Save the heroics for a script, David," Sarah said calmly, tapping the screen of her phone. "You have exactly sixty seconds before our associate in the motel administers a saline solution laced with the exact same organophosphate your wife used this morning. The antidote is here in my pocket, but you'll only get it once your digital signature is verified on these transfer documents."
David struggled against the weight of the men holding him down, his face pressed into the cold mud. His mind raced frantically. If he signed the papers, they would control his entire empire, and there was no guarantee they wouldn't eliminate him and Lily anyway. But if he refused, Lily would die within minutes.
"The papers... are in the car," David choked out, buying precious seconds.
"The papers are already loaded onto the tablet in my hand," Sarah countered, kneeling down beside him and holding the digital signature pad right in front of his face. A biometric stylus blinked red, waiting for his thumbprint and signature. "Fifty seconds, David."
He looked up at the glowing screen. The cursor flashed steadily, a mechanical heartbeat counting down his daughter's life. He thought of Lily's smile, her long light brown hair, the way she had bravely screamed a warning across the dining room table earlier that morning. She had saved his life, and now it was his turn to save hers.
"Okay," David whispered, his voice cracking with defeat. "I'll sign."
Sarah nodded to the men holding him. They eased their weight off his neck just enough for him to lift his right hand. His fingers shook violently as he reached out to press his thumb against the biometric sensor, watching the status bar tick from zero to fifty percent.
May you like
Suddenly, a blinding beam of light cut through the darkness of the treeline, accompanied by the deafening roar of a police siren echoing across the lake.
---
