Chapter 8 - The Confrontation
Inside the darkened living room, the three boys were huddled together behind the massive marble kitchen island. Ethan held a heavy brass fireplace poker like a club, his knuckles white with tension.
The double doors of the patio slowly swung open.
Cold wind and rain swept into the grand room, rustling the heavy silk curtains.
A long shadow stretched across the floorboards as I stepped inside. I carried no weapons. I didn't need any.
"Who's there?!" Ethan screamed, brandishing the poker with shaking arms. "I swear to God I’ll kill you! Stay back!"
I walked slowly into the center of the room. The dim moonlight reflecting off the wet pavement outside illuminated my silhouette.
"Ethan," I said softly. "Brandon. Tyler."
Brandon let out a high-pitched sob. "Please! It was Ethan’s idea! He said she was acting arrogant! He’s the one who hit her first!"
"Shut up, you coward!" Ethan yelled, turning on Brandon. "You held her arms!"
"And Tyler?" I asked, taking another step forward.
Tyler was on his knees, weeping hysterically. "My father can pay you! How much do you want?! A hundred million?! Two hundred million?! Just let me go! Please!"
"You thought her life was cheap," I said, my voice cutting through their panic like a razor. "You thought because her father wore plain clothes and drove a five-year-old car, she had no one to protect her."
Ethan snapped. Driven by pure, unadulterated terror, he lunged forward, swinging the heavy brass poker directly at my head with all the force he possessed.
I didn't flinch.
As the brass bar swung toward my temple, I stepped inside the arc of his arm, caught his wrist in mid-air, and twisted it downward.
A sharp crack echoed through the room as Ethan’s wrist dislocated. He dropped the poker, screaming in agony as he fell to his knees.
I caught him by the back of his hair, forcing his head up so he was looking directly into my eyes.
"Nineteen years ago," I whispered in his ear, "men who controlled whole cities dropped to their knees when I entered a room. You shattered my daughter’s jaw into six pieces, Ethan."
Ethan wept, blood dripping from his nose, his arrogance completely shattered. "I’m sorry... please... I’m sorry..."
I released him, letting him collapse onto the floor.
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I reached into my coat and pulled out a high-definition digital camera attached to a portable satellite transmitter. I set it up on the marble table, pointing the lens directly at the three of them.
"You are going to look into that camera," I said calmly. "And you are going to tell the world every single detail of what you did to Lily Walker."
