Chapter 9 - The Bound Beast
He pinned her between his knees, planting his full weight onto her shoulder blades, pulling her arms tightly behind her back.
Evelyn thrashed wildly beneath him, her screams of pain turning into incoherent, spitting curses as she bit at the wool rug.
"Leo! Get the belt!" Daniel yelled, his breathing heavy, his heart hammering against his ribs like a captive beast. "The brown belt in the living room! NOW!"
Leo dropped the iron poker onto the carpet. Without a word, his small sneakers thundered down the hallway toward the living room. Three seconds later, he returned, running as fast as his legs could carry him, holding the thick leather dress belt in his trembling hands.
Daniel took the belt from his son's hands. With practiced, cold efficiency, he wrapped the leather strap twice around Evelyn’s wrists, pulling the brass buckle through the tongue and cinch-locking it so tightly that the leather bit deep into her skin.
Evelyn’s thrashing slowed as the air was squeezed from her lungs under Daniel’s weight.
"You're... dead... Daniel..." she gasped into the rug, her voice muffled by the thick wool fibers. "My father... will find you... he'll kill those... worthless brats..."
Daniel reached down, grabbing a handful of her dark, cascading hair, pulling her head back just far enough so she could see his face.
"Your father was arrested at 02:00 AM this morning in Chicago, Evelyn," Daniel whispered directly into her ear, his voice dropping back into that terrifying, flat tone. "Do you think I came home early today by accident?"
Evelyn’s eyes widened in sudden, horrifying realization.
"The federal warrant was executed six hours ago," Daniel continued, his grip on her hair tightening slightly. "The wire transfers, the offshore accounts, the murder of my wife—I gave the Justice Department the entire network three weeks ago. I didn't come home to confront you. I came home to secure my children before the State Police arrived to pick you up."
Evelyn’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. The final, triumphant tower of her sociopathic grandiosity crumbled into dust.
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Footprints thundered down the exterior porch steps outside the study window. Heavy boots pounded against the wooden deck boards, followed by the sharp, authoritative shout of trained law enforcement officers.
"STATE POLICE! OPEN THE DOOR! HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"
