Chapter 5 - THE STORM AT THE AIRSTRIPThe snowstorm had turned into a full-blown blizzard by the time Caleb’s Bentley tore across the desolate highway toward the private airfield in Gary, Indiana.
The runway was illuminated by dim amber lights cutting through the blinding white fog. Near the far end of the tarmac, a sleek Gulfstream corporate jet sat idling, its jet engines whining loudly as snow swirled through the red tail lights.
A black Mercedes sedan was parked beside the mobile boarding stairs.
Caleb didn't bother stopping. He slammed his Bentley into the side of the Mercedes, shoving the luxury sedan ten feet across the icy concrete with a deafening screech of tearing metal and shattering glass.
Dominic Bell, sixty years old, wearing an exquisite cashmere coat and holding a leather briefcase, stumbled back from the stairs in sheer panic as his bodyguards drew their weapons.
Before the first guard could raise his rifle, Caleb’s Bentley door flew open.
Caleb moved like a whirlwind of vengeance. He fired three precise shots through the swirling snow, dropping the two bodyguards instantly. He stepped onto the tarmac, his heavy coat catching the freezing wind, his gray eyes locked onto the lawyer who had stolen his sister’s life.
Dominic dropped his briefcase. The latch popped open, scattering stacks of hundred-dollar bills and fake passports across the blood-stained snow.
"Caleb!" Dominic shrieked, backing toward the jet stairs, his face pale as a corpse. "Listen to me! It wasn't personal! It was business! She found the accounts... she was going to ruin everything we built!"
Caleb didn't answer. He walked forward slowly, his boots crunching on the frozen slush.
"I can give you the money!" Dominic begged, his voice high-pitched and hysterical against the roaring jet engines. "Fifty million dollars! It’s in Swiss trusts! I’ll sign it all over to you! Just let me board the plane!"
Caleb reached Dominic at the base of the stairs. He grabbed the older man by the lapels of his cashmere coat, hauling him up effortlessly and pinning him against the metal railing of the jet stairs.
"Fifty million dollars," Caleb whispered into Dominic’s ear. "Is that what my sister’s life was worth to you?"
"Caleb, please! Roman... Roman wouldn't want this!"
"Roman is broken because of you," Caleb said, his voice flat, devoid of all human mercy. "My sister died in pain, hiding in a charity ward, because of you. And for ten years, you sat at my table, drank my wine, and took my money."
Caleb drew his weapon, pressing the cold steel barrel directly beneath Dominic’s chin.
Dominic sobbed, clutching Caleb’s wrists, his expensive clothes soaked in melting snow. "Please... God... please forgive me..."
A second car slid to a halt on the icy tarmac behind them.
The door opened, and Roman Bell stepped out into the howling storm. He walked forward slowly, his face pale, his arms hanging limp at his sides. He stopped ten feet away, looking at his older brother pinned against the jet stairs.
Dominic looked at Roman with desperate, wild eyes. "Roman! Tell him! Help me, brother! For God’s sake, save me!"
Roman looked at Dominic. He saw the greed, the cowardice, and the unforgivable sin that had destroyed two families.
Then Roman looked at Caleb.
"Do it," Roman said softly, his voice barely audible over the roaring storm. "Do it for Lily."
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Dominic let out a horrified scream as Caleb pulled the trigger.
The gunshot was swallowed instantly by the roaring jet engines and the howling winter wind.
