Chapter 19 - The Final CodeThe interior of the plane was lined with cream-colored leather and polished mahogany. Sitting in the rear VIP seat was Mara, her hands bound with zip-ties, her tear-stained face pale with terror.
Standing over her, pouring a glass of champagne, was Elena.
She turned as Owen entered, her eyes widening in genuine shock. For the first time, the phantom nanny looked rattled. She dropped the champagne flute, reaching for the pistol holstered at her waist.
Owen didn't shoot. He knew the risk of a bullet over-penetrating and hitting his daughter was too high in the confined cabin. Instead, he lunged.
He tackled Elena, driving his shoulder into her chest. The gun flew from her hand, skittering across the carpeted floor. They crashed hard against the mahogany bar, shattering bottles of expensive liquor.
Elena recovered instantly. With terrifying speed, she drove her elbow into Owen’s jaw, the sickening crunch of bone echoing in the cabin. Owen stumbled backward, his vision swimming. Elena delivered a brutal kick to his ribs, sending him crashing to the floor.
"You just don't know when to die!" Elena screamed, drawing a jagged tactical knife from her boot. She lunged at Owen, aiming for his throat.
Owen rolled, barely dodging the blade as it sank deep into the plush carpet where his neck had been a second before. Running on pure, primal adrenaline, Owen grabbed the heavy, shattered neck of a whiskey bottle from the floor and swung it upward.
The jagged glass sliced deep across Elena's forearm. She shrieked, dropping the knife, but quickly drove her knee into Owen's face, pinning him down. Her hands wrapped around his throat, squeezing with inhuman strength.
Owen gasped for air, his vision tunneling into blackness. He reached for his gun, but it was too far away. He was losing.
Suddenly, a tiny, desperate blur launched across the cabin.
Mara, her hands still zip-tied together, threw her entire body weight against Elena's back, sinking her teeth viciously into the woman's shoulder.
Elena screamed in surprise and pain, her grip loosening for a fraction of a second.
It was all Owen needed. He surged upward, throwing Elena off him. He grabbed her by the tactical vest and drove her backward with everything he had left. Elena stumbled, her heel catching on the edge of the open cabin door.
With a frantic, flailing scream, Elena tipped backward and tumbled out of the aircraft, falling fifteen feet down the metal boarding stairs and crashing sickeningly onto the wet tarmac below. She didn't move.
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Owen collapsed onto his knees, gasping for air. He pulled Mara into his arms, burying his bloody face in her hair.
"I've got you, baby," Owen sobbed. "Daddy's got you."
