Chapter 24 - Shards of the Past
Victoria’s coat fabric began to tear under the immense strain. The sound of ripping stitching was louder than the howling wind in Julian’s ears.
"Julian... don't do this," Victoria sobbed, her aristocratic mask completely dissolved into pathetic groveling. "You are a Sterling! You aren't a murderer!"
"I am Emily’s husband," Julian said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion.
He didn't push her. He didn't drop her.
He simply opened his fingers.
Victoria’s scream was torn away by the gale-force blizzard as her body plummeted backward into the swirling abyss. For three agonizing seconds, her crimson coat was visible as a tiny red speck spiraling downward through the white void before it was completely swallowed by the darkness and the fury of the mountain.
Inside the estate, the silence that followed was suffocating.
Julian pulled himself back over the ledge with Daniel’s help, collapsing onto the frozen floorboards beside Emily. Emily threw her arms around him, burying her face into his snow-soaked collar, her entire body shaking with violent, racking sobs. Julian wrapped his arms around her and their unborn child, kissing the crown of her head, weeping openly.
"It’s over," Julian whispered against her frozen hair. "It’s over, Emily. She’s gone."
"Not yet," Helena Vance said grimly, her voice shattering the brief sanctuary of relief. She had retrieved the blinking black detonator from the floor and was staring at its digital display with chilled intensity.
Daniel knelt beside his mother. "Mom, what is it? Can you disarm the charges?"
Helena turned the screen toward them. The countdown timer, which had halted during the struggle, had just reset itself to an automated fail-safe loop.
`04:59... 04:58... 04:57...`
"A dead-man's biometric trigger," Helena stated, her jaw clenched tight. "The transmitter was calibrated to Victoria’s heart rate via a subcutaneous monitor. The moment her heart stopped beating upon impact at the bottom of the gorge... the terminal countdown activated. We have less than five minutes before the entire mountain ridge is leveled."
Daniel immediately tapped his tactical radio. "Bravo Team, this is Daniel! Bring the extraction chopper to the south terrace immediately! We need hot evac right now!"
Static crackled through the comms, followed by the panicked voice of his squad leader: *"Negative, Commander! The blizzard has created a catastrophic downdraft on the south ridge! Visibility is zero! If we attempt to land on the terrace, the winds will slam us into the cliff face! You have to reach the funicular tram at the lower tram station!"*
"The funicular?" Julian looked up, his face pale. "That tram hasn't been operated in fifteen years! The cable lines are rusted!"
"It’s the only way down," Daniel said, hauling Julian to his feet and pulling Emily up with extreme gentleness. "The blast will trigger an avalanche that will bury every access road on this peak. If we aren't past the secondary ridge in four minutes, we die with her."
"Emily can barely walk," Julian protested, wrapping an arm around Emily's waist as she winced, clutching her abdomen. The stress, the freezing cold, and the physical trauma had triggered intense, sharp contractions.
May you like
"Emily," Helena said, her eyes boring into her niece with fierce, maternal steel. "Look at me. Your mother Eleanor survived six gunshot wounds and ran twenty miles through the French Alps to keep you safe when you were an infant. That same blood is in your veins. You run now. You run for that baby."
Emily swallowed the agonizing pain shooting through her lower back, wiped the tears from her frozen cheeks, and nodded. "I'm ready. Let’s go."
