Chapter 38 - The Breaking of the Ice
Vance stood at the bottom of the iron stairs, his silhouette framed by the faint moonlight filtering down from above.
His left arm hung limp in an improvised sling, but his right hand held his service weapon locked onto Eleanor’s chest.
"You're a persistent little dog, Detective," Eleanor sneered, sliding sideways so Arthur remained between her and the officer’s line of fire.
"Drop the weapon, or I swear to God I’ll put a bullet through your throat," Vance yelled, his voice echoing in the wet chamber.
"You won't shoot," Eleanor laughed, her voice bouncing shrilly off the concrete walls. "You might hit your precious witness."
Arthur caught Vance’s eye for a fraction of a second through the gloom.
Vance’s gaze dropped downward toward the murky water around their legs, then flickered back to Arthur with an unspoken command.
*Drop.*
Arthur didn't hesitate.
He threw himself backward into the freezing lake water, completely submerging his body into the dark pool.
The deafening roar of Vance’s firearm tore through the underground chamber, followed immediately by the sharp crack of Eleanor’s revolver.
The muzzle flashes illuminated the damp room in violent strobes of orange and blue.
A bullet ricocheted off the steel locker with a terrifying scream, sending metal fragments whistling through the humid air.
Arthur surfaced, sputtering and gasping as the freezing water filled his nose and mouth.
Above him, Eleanor stumbled backward into the corner, clutching her right shoulder where blood was rapidly soaking through her white fur.
Vance took another heavy step forward, but his foot slipped on the algae-covered concrete floor.
He fell heavily onto his wounded shoulder, his pistol sliding across the wet floor into the murky water.
Eleanor saw her chance.
Ignoring the agony in her arm, she lunged toward the manual flood release valve mounted on the southern concrete wall.
"If I can't leave with the fortune, Arthur," Eleanor shrieked, her bloody hands gripping the heavy cast-iron wheel. "None of us leave at all!"
With a hysterical scream, she turned the valve with all her remaining strength.
May you like
A terrifying groan echoed through the foundations of the boathouse as the emergency sluice gates groaned open.
***
