"Clay! To your left!" Rachel called out clearly, her voice devoid of hesitation.
Without looking, Clay pivoted fluidly, unleashing a heavy combat knife with pinpoint precision. The blade embedded itself deeply into the window frame, stopping the intruder in his tracks before he could raise his weapon.
The fierce, unexpected resistance completely disrupted Salazar's vanguard. They had never anticipated that a lone veteran and a civilian woman could hold off an entire professional tactical squad for this long. Hearing the aggressive revving of engines outside, Clay knew Salazar was growing impatient and preparing to launch his final push. He locked eyes with Rachel, an intense determination burning in his weathered gaze: "It's time to end this game once and for all."
Here are Chapters 13, 14, and 15 translated and expanded into English to bring the story to a powerful and complete conclusion:
CHAPTER 13: THE DIRECT CONFRONTATION
The blinding beams of high-end headlights sliced through the dense nocturnal fog, illuminating the gravel courtyard of the sawmill. Stepping out of a luxury armored vehicle was Victor Salazar—the notorious boss ofحيان the borderland crime syndicate, the unseen hand behind the chaos on the highway over the past few days. With his arrival came an oppressive silence, his heavily armed enforcers forming a menacing wall behind him.
Salazar strolled forward toward the main entrance of the mill, his voice echoing coldly through a megaphone:
— "Come out, Clay! You're only delaying the inevitable. Hand over what I want, and I'll grant the waitress and her kid a safe passage out."
Inside, Clay stood tall, his expression unshakeable. He turned to Rachel, who was holding little Lily tight against her chest, his gaze fierce and resolute.
"Keep an eye on her," Clay said softly, his voice carrying the quiet authority of a true leader.
Without waiting for the enforcers to smash the doors down again, Clay suddenly kicked open the heavy iron front doors. His imposing, fearless posture forced Salazar to stall for a second. In Clay's hands wasn't a weapon, but the encrypted data drive extracted directly from the engine block of the blue custom chopper—the very secret the bike had harbored back at the Red Lines diner.