Chapter 15
Harrison crouched behind a thick pine tree,
watching the clearing.
Three men sat around a small campfire,
their faces lit by the flickering orange light.
Julian Vance was in the center,
holding a satellite phone,
trying to make a call.
"The accounts are still frozen,"
Julian snarled,
throwing the phone to the ground.
"It doesn't matter,"
one of his henchmen replied.
"The lawyer's family is gone."
"The debt is paid."
Julian smiled,
a twisted,
sick expression of satisfaction.
"Not yet,"
Julian muttered.
"Harrison still lives."
"I want him to see the ashes first."
"You don't have to wait,"
Harrison's voice rang out from the darkness.
The three men jumped up,
their hands reaching for their weapons.
Harrison stepped into the light of the fire,
his expression calm but terrifyingly empty.
He looked at them not as a victim,
but as a judge.
"Harrison,"
Julian gasped,
his eyes widening in shock.
"How are you alive?"
"Your plan failed,
Julian,"
Harrison said,
taking a slow step forward.
"My family is safe,
and your empire is completely destroyed."
"The police are on their way,
and every bank account you own is gone."
"You have nothing."
Julian's face distorted with fury,
and he drew a pistol from his belt.
"I still have this,"
Julian screamed,
pointing the gun at Harrison's chest.
The two henchmen hesitated,
looking around nervously.
They were mercenaries,
and they knew the game was lost when the money vanished.
"Drop your weapons,"
Harrison said to the two men,
ignoring Julian's gun.
"The FBI has already identified you."
"If you walk away now,
you might survive the legal fallout."
"If you stay,
you share his fate."
The two men looked at each other,
then at Julian,
who was shaking with rage.
Slowly,
they dropped their firearms onto the dirt and backed away into the trees.
They chose survival over a madman's revenge.
Julian was left alone,
his hand trembling as he held the gun.
"It's just you and me now,
lawyer,"
Julian hissed.
"You think you are so smart,
always winning with your words."
"Let's see how well your words stop a bullet."
Harrison did not flinch,
his eyes fixed on Julian's finger on the trigger.
He knew the danger,
but he felt an overwhelming calmness.
He had spent his life fighting with laws,
but today,
he was fighting for his family's soul.
"Shoot me,"
Harrison challenges softly.
"And confirm everything your father was."
"A criminal,
a failure,
a coward."
May you like
Julian shrieked with rage,
his finger tightening on the trigger.
