Victor Morris, sitting at the head of the kitchen table, dropped his glass of brandy in shock. The smug flush vanished from his face, replaced by a sickly gray. Slowly he looked up and saw Michael in the doorway, leaning on his cane like a man who had come back from the dead with unfinished business.
But the real blow came a second later, when Susan stepped out from behind Michael. Their little girl, seeing her father for the first time in all those months, immediately hid behind Michael’s leg and began to cry. Victor stared, mouth open, finally understanding that the lie he had built his whole scheme around had collapsed in front of him.
Then, driven by pure panic, Victor shoved the table aside and lunged for his jacket hanging over a chair. His hand dove into the side pocket where, as Eleanor knew too well, he kept the grenade. Michael reacted faster than thought. Despite the pain in his injuries, he moved across the room with the speed of a man trained by war.
His wooden cane came down hard on Victor’s wrist. There was a sickening crack, and Victor screamed. The green ridged body of the grenade slipped from his hand and rolled across the kitchen floor, freezing everyone in place. And in that same split second, from the dark hallway, Alex burst forward—white-faced, wild-eyed, and clutching a long kitchen knife…
Alex, crazed with fear, charged blindly, swinging the knife in the cramped hallway. Time seemed to narrow to a single point. The grenade, its safety pin still in place, clattered across the uneven linoleum toward Susan’s feet.
One of the military officers reacted instantly, knocking the knife from Alex’s hand with practiced precision. The butt of his rifle came down on Alex’s shoulder, dropping him to his knees with a cry. At the same time, the second officer scooped up the rolling grenade, secured it, and stowed it safely away.
At last, the situation in the wrecked kitchen was fully under control. Victor lay on the floor groaning and clutching his broken wrist. His criminal friends, who only minutes earlier had acted like kings of the place, now stood facing the wall with plastic restraints cinched around their wrists.
The senior officer began reading out the charges in a cold, even voice: attempted theft of property, fraud, theft of humanitarian aid, threats with an explosive device, and abandonment of family members in mortal danger during wartime. Each count landed like a hammer blow, and everyone in the room understood the same thing—these men were looking at years behind bars…
