Chapter 208: The Siege
The Lawrence Estate was a fortress. The ten-foot wrought-iron gates were locked tight. Dozens of armed guards patrolled the perimeter with K9 units, their searchlights cutting through the dark.
Inside the main conference room, the air was thick. Victor Lawrence sat at the head of the table, looking ghostly. The heart monitor beside him beeped rhythmically. He coughed violently into a handkerchief, pulling it away to see a splash of bright red blood.
"What does the police department say?" Victor rasped, his clouded eyes on Ryan.
"Connor has blocked every major road out of D.C.," Ryan said, throwing a heavy tactical coat onto a sofa. "But Richard has vanished. The chopper they used was found burned out near Chesapeake Bay. No sign of them."
"If we don't find him, the blade stays over our heads," Victor said, slamming his hand on his chair. "Raise security to the maximum. Not a fly gets in."
"Father," Ryan turned sharply. "Richard is just a dog. The real threat is still in the shadows."
Victor flinched, his eyes darting away. "That’s in the past..."
"It’s not," Ryan interrupted. "Until we cut off the second head, Evelyn and the boy are in danger. The whole family is."
Ryan walked out of the room and pushed open the door to the guest wing bedroom. Evelyn wasn't sleeping. She was sitting on the rug, surrounded by old journals and brittle diagrams—the few things she had found belonging to Madeleine Lawrence.
"I found it." Evelyn looked up. Her eyes were bright with intensity. She pointed to a scribble in a journal that looked like idle doodling. "This isn't a doodle. It's a street map of Brooklyn."
Her voice trembled slightly. "Look at these coordinates. They’re near an abandoned textile mill in Bushwick."
Ryan took the book, his brow furrowed. Evelyn stood up and grabbed her coat. "I have to go. This needs to end."
"It's too dangerous," Ryan said.
"If we don't go, we’re always on the defensive." Evelyn looked him in the eye. "Elias is terrified. I won't let him live in fear. Take me there, Ryan."
Ryan saw the fire in her eyes and finally nodded. "Fine. But you stay by my side."
As they prepared to leave, Ryan’s phone buzzed with an encrypted video. It was Camilla. The footage was from inside a guest room. She was huddled in the corner of a bathroom, using a burner phone.
"I know where the backup power lines are... it's a blind spot for the cameras. If you kill Evelyn, I'll open the side gate for you..." Camilla’s voice was full of madness. "I don't care who you are. If that bitch dies, I'll let you in!"
The video ended. Evelyn smiled coldly. "She really never learns."
"This is an opportunity," Ryan said, his eyes darkening. "We use her. We draw them out and finish it."
Ten minutes later.
An armored black SUV slipped out of the side gate of the estate. Only Ryan and Evelyn were inside. Simultaneously, at the main gate, a three-car decoy convoy departed with a full security detail, heading toward the airport to fake an emergency evacuation.
"Will they fall for it?" Evelyn asked, clutching the journal.
"For fanatics, even a one-percent chance is enough for them to pounce," Ryan said. He floored the accelerator, and the car roared onto the highway.
The night was deep. Streetlights blurred past. The only sound was the low hum of the engine. Evelyn looked at Ryan. This feeling of facing death together was more powerful than any words could be.
"Ryan."
"Yeah?"
"If..." Evelyn paused. "If we make it back alive, let's get married."
Ryan looked at her, his gaze filled with a depth of love that could drown a person. "No 'ifs.' I’m going to give you a real proposal, a real ring, and we’re going to take Elias’s hand and start over."
The moment didn't last. As they crossed into New Jersey territory toward New York, the radar warning on the dashboard turned blood-red.
Beep... Beep... Beep...
"Hold on!"
Ryan yanked the wheel to the left. The tires screamed against the asphalt.
BANG!
A bullet shattered the right side-mirror. Shards of glass flew everywhere. Evelyn ducked instinctively. Through the back window, she saw three black sedans with no lights on, sticking to them like shadows.
"How did they find us?" Evelyn shouted. "We took the side gate!"
"There's a tracker under the car," Ryan said, glancing at the signal interference on his screen. "That idiot Camilla didn't just sell us out; she tampered with every car she could reach. They were waiting for us!"
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Heavy gunfire erupted. Bullets pounded the armored glass, leaving white impact marks. One of the pursuing cars accelerated, slamming into Ryan’s rear bumper. The impact sent them swerving.
"You want to play for keeps? Fine."
Ryan didn't slow down. He accelerated toward a sharp exit ramp that hung over an overpass. "Grab the handle!"
At the curve, Ryan slammed the brakes and pulled the handbrake. The SUV performed a perfect 180-degree drift, spinning around to face the three pursuing cars. That was Ryan Lawrence. Even in a corner, he didn't run.
He rolled down his window, aimed his pistol at the lead car’s front tire, and fired.
Bang!
The tire blew. The car veered sharply to the right, smashing through the guardrail.
CRASH!
The car tumbled off the overpass. Seconds later, a dull explosion echoed from below as it burst into flames.
"Two left." Ryan released the handbrake and roared back into the night.