Chapter 17 - The Fire
Thomas fired toward the doorway.
Police pulled Isabella behind cover.
The bullet struck a metal beam.
Thomas kicked over a gasoline container.
Fuel spread across the floor.
“Back away!” he shouted.
Margaret struggled against the ropes.
Isabella saw a small utility knife near her mother’s shoe.
Margaret saw it too.
While Thomas watched the police, she dragged the knife closer with her heel.
Ramirez negotiated.
“You cannot leave this building.”
“I have leverage.”
“No. You have a hostage and a room full of gasoline.”
Thomas looked toward Isabella.
“Tell them to leave.”
Isabella stepped into view despite Ramirez’s warning.
“You never wanted me.”
Thomas’s expression shifted.
“I wanted what belonged to me.”
“Grandmother knew it never did.”
“She poisoned you against me.”
“I barely knew your name.”
The insult struck deeper than anger.
Thomas moved toward Isabella.
Margaret cut one rope.
Then another.
She rose suddenly and struck Thomas’s wrist with the chair leg.
The gun fell.
The lighter dropped into the gasoline.
Flames raced across the floor.
Police rushed forward.
Ramirez tackled Thomas.
Isabella reached Margaret and pulled her toward the exit.
Smoke filled the warehouse.
They stumbled outside together as flames burst through the loading doors.
Thomas was dragged out in handcuffs seconds later.
Margaret collapsed against Isabella.
“You came for me.”
Isabella held her tightly.
May you like
“You came for me first.”
👉 Thomas survived the fire—but the evidence recovered from his burned briefcase exposed the judge he had secretly paid.
