Chapter 11: The Fall Out

POV: Alessia Rowan

"Sir, keep your hands where we can see them! Do not move!"

The lead police officer pressed Gideon further down into the wet asphalt outside the burning warehouse. The flashing red and blue lights of the police cars washed over his muddy shirt, turning his face a pale, ghostly red.

"Let go of me!" Gideon shrieked, his voice cracking violently as he struggled against the officer's grip. "You're arresting the wrong person! Look at the screens! She hacked the broadcast! That footage is edited! She made it up to ruin me!"

"Mr. Foster, quiet down!" the second officer barked, pulling Gideon’s wrists together behind his back with a sharp click of steel handcuffs. "The document came directly from the State Financial Crimes Board with an active court seal! You have the right to remain silent!"

Nessa was backing away slowly toward the edge of the crowd, her face pale, her eyes darting left and right as she tried to slip behind a group of onlookers.

"Ma'am! Stop right there!" a female officer called out, stepping quickly across the wet road to block Nessa's path. "Nessa Rowan?"

Nessa froze, clutching her expensive handbag against her chest like a shield. Her voice trembled as she tried to put on a helpless, innocent smile. "Officer, please! I don't have anything to do with this! I'm just his sister-in-law! I didn't know about any insurance money or bank transfers! I swear I didn't know!"

"Your name is listed on three of the secondary accounts flagged for unauthorized asset conversion, Miss Rowan," the female officer said firmly, taking Nessa by the arm. "You need to step over to the cruiser so we can verify your involvement in these illegal credit lines."

"No! Please! You can't touch me!" Nessa cried out, tears ruining her makeup as the officer escorted her toward the vehicle. "Alessia! Tell them! Tell them I didn't do anything!"

I stood near the edge of the broadcast area, watching the scene unfold with complete, quiet calm.

In my past life, I was the one crying on the ground. I was the one begging for mercy while Gideon and Nessa stood over me, looking down with cold, disgusted eyes before pushing me straight into the teeth of the monsters. Watching them now, exposed in front of the entire city, crying over their lost comfort and ruined names, felt like taking a long, deep breath after years of suffocating.

Gideon lifted his head from the pavement, his eyes wild and bloodshot as he scanned the crowd in pure desperation.

Then his gaze landed on me.

I pulled my cap slightly higher, letting him see my face clearly under the dim streetlights. I didn't smile. I didn't scream. I just looked at him with cold, distant eyes that held no fear, no love, and no regret.

Gideon’s face twisted into raw, unhinged fury.

"YOU!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing over the loud hum of the fire engines.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU RUINED MY LIFE!"

With a desperate, wild surge of strength, Gideon broke free from the officer holding his shoulder. He scrambled up from the muddy ground, his hands cuffed behind his back, running straight toward me with his teeth bared in pure hatred.

"I'll kill you, Alessia!" he roared, stumbling across the wet road. "I'll kill you with my own hands!"

"Stop him!" an officer yelled, reaching for his belt.

Before the officers could even take two steps, a figure stepped smoothly out of the dark shadow to my right.

Corbin moved without a sound. He stepped right into Gideon's path, blocking him completely. Before Gideon could even process the sudden wall standing in front of him, Corbin caught him squarely by the collar with one hand, twisting his momentum seamlessly, and pinned him flat against the hood of a nearby police cruiser.

Gideon let out a sharp gasp of air as his chest hit the cold metal. He wriggled uselessly, his head pressed hard against the police vehicle, unable to move a single inch under Corbin’s firm, unyielding grip.

"That's enough," Corbin said softly, his voice low, steady, and terrifyingly calm against Gideon's ear. "You're done, Foster."

Gideon panted heavily against the cold hood of the car, his forehead smearing mud across the white paint. He looked up sideways at Corbin, his eyes wide with recognition and sudden terror.

"You..." Gideon wheezed out, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps. "You're... task force..."

"I am," Corbin replied quietly, keeping his hand fixed on Gideon's back until the two police officers rushed over to take full control of the suspect.

"Thank you, Commander," the lead officer said, taking Gideon by both arms and pulling him upright.

The live news camera was still running nearby. The female reporter walked right up to the police vehicle, holding her microphone close as an official notice popped up on her broadcast tablet.

"Breaking update," the reporter announced directly into the camera lens, her voice sharp and clear. "The State Health Division and Financial Task Force have officially issued a total asset freeze on all holdings registered under Gideon Foster and associated secondary accounts, pending formal charges of grand larceny, arson, and public endangerment."

Gideon stared at the glowing camera lens. The words sank into his brain like poison.

His house, his cards, his clothes, his accounts—everything he had stolen, lied for, and plotted to get was wiped away in five seconds on national television. The arrogant, greedy man who had spent years manipulating my mind was left standing in a muddy street, penniless and bound in steel.

The police officers opened the rear door of the patrol car and shoved Gideon inside.

Just before his head passed under the door frame, Gideon turned his face toward me one last time. The panic in his eyes had turned into something dark, desperate, and utterly chilling.

He opened his mouth and screamed at me through the open window, his voice cutting through the noise of the crowd like a rusty blade:

"It doesn't matter, Alessia! You think you won?! It doesn't matter what you do to my accounts! Briggs is coming for you anyway! He already knows where you are!"

The officer slammed the patrol door shut, cutting off his voice.

The red tail lights of the police cruiser flashed as the vehicle pulled away into the night, carrying Gideon and Nessa toward the central detention facility.

I stood on the sidewalk, watching the car vanish down the dark road.

Corbin walked up beside me, his hands resting near his tactical belt, his eyes fixed on the empty street where the police car had disappeared.

"Briggs," Corbin said softly, his voice tight. "He was talking about Commander Briggs of Aegis Security."

"I know," I said, my grip tightening on the black phone in my jacket pocket. "He sold my mother's estate files to Briggs months ago."

Corbin turned his head to look at me, his sharp gaze reading the total lack of hesitation in my eyes. "The containment at St. Jude Hospital failed, Alessia. The mutation is airborne. If Briggs is moving now, he won't use lawyers or bank notices. He'll use tactical squads."

"Then he better bring everything he has," I said, turning on my heel and walking toward our vehicle. "Because Silo Haven is waiting.”