Chapter 9 - The Reckoning of Conrad Vance
Sheriff Miller slowly stood up, placing his broad body directly between Vance's revolver and the bed where Julianne held her child.
"You took my daughter, Conrad," Miller said, his voice dropping to a terrifying, guttural growl.
"You kept her chained like an animal to steal a piece of dirt.
"Dirt?
" Vance laughed, his eyes glittering with manic greed.
"That 'dirt' contains the largest unmined lithium and rare earth deposit in the southeastern United States, you ignorant old dinosaur!
"That land is worth four hundred million dollars!
"Julianne wouldn't sign the mining leases because she wanted to preserve her mother's precious forest preserves!
"She was an obstacle to progress, Marcus!
"Just like you!
"And faking her death was so delightfully simple," Vance continued, stepping forward with his gun raised.
"The coroner owed me favors.
"The town council eats out of my hand.
"And you—her own father—were too pathetic and broken to even demand an autopsy on a closed casket.
Miller didn't flinch, his eyes locked onto Vance's smug face with lethal focus.
"You made one mistake, Vance," Miller said calmly.
"What mistake is that, Marcus?" Vance mocked, cocking the hammer of his revolver.
"You forgot that I have been the Sheriff of this county for thirty-four years," Miller said.
Suddenly, the building's emergency sirens shrieked to life, drowning out Vance's voice in a deafening wall of sound.
Blinding red emergency strobes flashed through the frosted windows of the basement laboratory.
Heavy footsteps echoed down the concrete hallway—dozens of tactical boots advancing at full sprint.
"State Police!
Nobody move!" a booming voice echoed from the corridor, followed by the violent crash of the outer doors being breached.
Vance’s face twisted in sudden panic, his eyes darting toward his two security guards, who immediately lowered their shotguns.
"Drop your weapons!
Down on the ground now!" shouted Captain Reynolds of the Georgia State Patrol, storming into the room with a full tactical team.
Vance stumbled backward, his hand shaking as he pointed the revolver toward Captain Reynolds.
"Stay back!
I am Conrad Vance!
I own this facility!" he screamed hysterically.
Miller did not wait for the troopers to negotiate.
With blinding speed, the old Sheriff lunged forward, his massive left hand clamping down over the cylinder of Vance’s revolver.
With a sickening snap, Miller twisted Vance’s wrist outward, dislocating the joint and forcing the gun to clatter to the tile floor.
Miller slammed Vance against the concrete wall, driving his forearm directly into the doctor's throat.
"You aren't a doctor, Conrad," Miller growled into the terrified man's ear.
"You are a coward and a monster.
"And you are going to spend the rest of your miserable life rotting in a concrete cage.
Reynolds and two troopers rushed forward, pulling Miller back and slamming Vance facedown onto the bloody floor, locking heavy steel cuffs onto his wrists.
"We received the distress signal from Deputy Briggs's patrol cruiser, Marcus," Captain Reynolds said, clapping a hand on Miller's shoulder.
"Briggs called dispatch from the highway before he passed out.
"He confessed to everything, Marcus.
"He gave us Vance's personal server codes and the location of this basement.
Miller turned back toward the hospital bed, his eyes filled with tears of overwhelming relief.
Julianne was weeping, holding Clara tightly against her chest, safe in the warm light of the room.
May you like
I stepped beside them, checking the infant's pulse, which was now strong, steady, and full of life.
The nightmare in the dark was finally over.
