Chapter 15 - The Aftermath|
The blast knocked Carter and the SWAT team to the ground. I screamed, covering my head as debris rained down on the roof of the SUV.
When I finally looked up, the sleek white cabin cruiser was engulfed in flames, slowly sinking into the dark water of the bay.
“Carter!” I yelled, throwing the car door open and running toward the fire.
Carter was already on his feet, coughing through the thick black smoke. He grabbed my arm, pulling me back. “Stay back, Sarah! It’s not safe!”
Fire sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder by the second. The tactical team approached the flaming wreckage, weapons raised, but there was no movement.
“Did he… did he blow himself up?” I asked, trembling as the heat from the fire washed over my face.
Carter stared at the burning boat, his jaw clenched. “He’s a narcissist, Sarah. Narcissists don’t kill themselves. They fake their deaths to avoid accountability.”
He turned to the SWAT commander. “Lock down the perimeter! Check the water! He blew the boat as a distraction. He’s swimming for it!”
Helicopters swarmed overhead, shining massive spotlights into the churning water of the bay. Police boats deployed nets, searching every inch of the shoreline.
I stood on the dock for hours, wrapped in a blanket Carter had given me. The sun began to rise, painting the fog in eerie shades of orange and gray.
Eventually, a diver emerged from the water, shaking his head. “Nothing, Colonel. No body. But we found a scuba tank abandoned near the pilings.”
Carter kicked a piece of charred wood into the water. “He slipped away.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. Daniel was alive. And he was out there.
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“He has nothing,” Carter reassured me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “No money, no passport. We froze the fake loan. He’s a fugitive.”
“You don’t know Daniel,” I whispered, staring into the dark water. “He never loses. He’ll come back for me.”
