Chapter 28 - The Architect’s Sanctuary
Mark moved faster than human perception.
He didn't dive for his dropped weapon; he launched his entire body across the intervening fifteen feet like a missile. Montgomery pulled the trigger, but Mark’s left hand slammed over the revolver's cylinder, preventing the hammer from striking the primer. With his right fist, Mark delivered a savage, crushing blow directly into Montgomery’s aristocratic nose.
Cartilage shattered. Montgomery stumbled backward with a wet gasp, crashing against the grand glass console of the yacht's steering station.
Mark ripped the revolver from the old man's grip, tossed it aside, and scooped Lily into his left arm, shielding her small body completely behind his ceramic armor.
"Daddy! Daddy, I’m sorry!" Lily wept hysterically, burying her face into Mark’s neck, her small fingers clutching the soaked fabric of his tactical vest with terrifying strength.
"I’ve got you, Lily. I’ve got you," Mark breathed, kissing the top of her trembling head.
On the floor, coughing up dark blood, Sterling Montgomery began to laugh. It was a raspy, wheezing sound filled with venomous triumph. He held up his left hand. The silver remote control was already flashing red.
"You think you’ve won, Captain?" Montgomery hissed, his eyes gleaming with mad delight. "You think you can just walk away with my legacy? This ship is equipped with four scuttling charges along the lower keel. In three minutes, sixty thousand tons of water will drag *The Leviathan’s Wake* to the bottom of the Hudson Trench."
A series of muffled, bone-shaking detonations ripped through the bowels of the vessel far below. The entire 300-foot yacht shuddered violently, listing instantly ten degrees to the starboard side. Alarms began to shriek across the bridge in a terrifying chorus of electronic wails: *CRITICAL HULL BREACH. WATER INGRESS COMPARTMENT 4, 5, AND 6.*
"You're insane," Mark said, his eyes narrowing.
"I am an Architect!" Montgomery spat, blood bubbling on his lips. "If I am destined to turn to dust, my greatest creation will be buried with me in the dark!"
May you like
Mark didn't waste another breath on the dying billionaire. He spun on his heel, holding Lily securely against his chest, and sprinted out of the shattered observation salon toward the listing deck. Behind them, Montgomery pulled himself up against the panoramic glass, laughing maniacally as a forty-foot wave smashed through the reinforced windows, engulfing the salon in a catastrophic wall of ocean water.
***
