75Hi guys :) So I am completely amazed at how many people have read this story so far, and thank for all the reviews, every time I read them I break out into this silly smile! I really hope you like this chapter as much, and I'm hoping to get the next one up tomorrow! please tell me what you think :) Summer x
Chase couldn't quite move fast enough. His senses were in overdrive as he ran straight into the lift, slamming his fist into the button on the wall over and over again until the doors slid shut. And it moved too slowly, far too slowly, when he had to get down there now…
He didn't really have a plan. All he knew was that the image of Mr Davenport, beaten and bruised like that, was incredibly, awfully, overwhelmingly wrong. He had to stop it. And that gun… He couldn't get the image out of his head.
The second the doors opened he was almost flew across the room with another burst of speed. Douglas was still standing there, aiming at Mr Davenport and grinning as if he was enjoying what he was watching too much to actually do anything else. His brother was straining weakly against the cord that was tied far too tightly around his wrists.
Chase slammed into Douglas with every ounce of strength he had. Owing to the sheer surprise of his attack, he managed to push the man away, the gun firing into the empty space above Mr Davenport's head. Both he and Chase stared at the bullet hole left in the wall for a minute in shock, picturing what could have happened if Chase had been even a fraction late, before his gaze rested on the young boy who just saved his brother's life. He raised the gun again.
-0-
Pain was radiating from his forehead, making his brain pound and his vision blur. He watched as his brother pointed a slick black gun at him, a gloating and slightly insane smile spreading over his face. Seriously, what was wrong with the guy? Sure, he'd always known Douglas was crazy, but he'd never envisioned him actually breaking into his lab, beating him up, tying him to a chair and shooting him. It was like a very poor action movie.
Except, this was real. He was going to be killed by his brother because of some childish vendetta. God, real life could be dull, which was why he'd gone into the inventing business in the first place. He'd done so much, but he had so much more that he could do to help improve the world, and make a couple more million while he was at it. And Adam, Bree and Chase, he would never see them graduate, go to university, complete even more awe-inspiring missions. He pulled against the ropes holding him to the chair with a kind of feral desperation, but it made no difference. Thank God Tasha and the kids weren't here; he didn't want to think about what Douglas would do to them after he finished with him.
And then Chase came racing into view, shoving the younger man aside as he pulled the trigger. He practically felt the bullet as it flew over his head and buried itself into the metal panelling behind him. His heart was racing at the idea of just how close that had come.
And then Douglas was aiming at Chase and something inside of him broke.
"NO!" Davenport screamed, desperately trying to break free from the chair. His brother just laughed.
"Oh, I'm not going to shoot him. Yet. I've got way too many plans for him to get rid of him now." He twirled the gun around in his fingers before turning back to him. "You, however..."
"Don't. You. Dare." Chase planted himself squarely between both men. "You are not killing him. Sorry."
Douglas raised an eyebrow, a move that was infinitely familiar to his brother. The amount of times he had given him that look, and now it was directed at the only other person with the same level of brains as him. He figured that this was probably the strangest family reunion ever. Might even beat the one which involved an old sausage factory and an android.
"You're brave, son, very brave."
"I am not your son." Chase's body was shaking. "My father is tied to a chair, not pointing a gun at my face."
Mr Davenport felt his chest swell with a mix of pride and horror as he watched. He was so brave, but bravery couldn't protect him against a gun-wielding megalomaniac. And right now, neither could he.
"Don't talk to me like that!" Douglas hissed, slamming the gun so hard into Chase's cheek that he staggered back against the desk, an ugly red mark beginning to form. "I am your creator!"
Chase was furious. He raised his head so that he was eye to eye with his uncle, glaring at him with unrestrained loathing.
"No, you are crazy." He stood in front of Mr Davenport again, determined not to let anything happen to him. "Why have you even come?"
"I rebuilt the controls! You know, the ones which will control you? Of course I was brilliant enough to remake them. I wasn't just going to let you stay here, with him. You're mine, and it's staying that way."
Chase's mind had no trouble working out the probability of Douglas telling the truth, and having built another way to bend the free will of him and his siblings. Unfortunately, it was quite high. He tried to work out ways to stop him, but that really depended on finding out where Douglas was hiding the remote. It would be much easier if there wasn't one, but this was his insane uncle, so of course there was a remote. And he knew he would have brought it with him to gloat, because that's who he was. Come on Chase, he mentally told himself, you can play to your strengths. Shouldn't be too hard, right?
"You know I won't let that happen, don't you?" Chase's eyes scanned his uncle frantically, trying to see where Douglas had hidden the device.
"Oh, you are good, but you're not that good. Nowhere near as good as me." Douglas had an evil gleam in his eyes. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a slim metal plaque, with one red button in the centre. "This will start the programme, and you know there's nothing you can do to stop it."