Chapter 241: To Stop The Truck
The truck headed straight toward Catherine, its engine roaring as it tore across the construction site.
Inside the car, Catherine’s heart hammered against her ribs, but she forced herself to stay calm. Panic would not help her now. Her fingers flew across the control panel as she attempted every override she could think of, but nothing responded.
The touchscreen remained frozen, as lifeless as stone. It was as though the vehicle no longer belonged to its owner.
Outside, chaos erupted.
Richard did not waste a second. The moment he realized the doors would not open, he sprinted toward the construction area, seized a heavy wrench, and brought it down against the window with all his strength.
The metallic impact rang through the air, drawing the attention of everyone nearby, but the glass refused to give way. Modern engineering had done exactly what it had been designed to do—protect its occupants.
Unfortunately, it was now protecting Catherine from rescue.
"Come on!" Richard shouted, striking the window again and again. Between blows, he barked furiously into his phone at the car manufacturer’s emergency service line, demanding answers in a tone that suggested several careers were about to end if they failed him.
The truck continued its relentless advance. It neither slowed nor swerved. If anything, it seemed to be accelerating.
William watched in horror as his youngest sister sat trapped behind reinforced glass with death racing toward her. A cry tore from him before instinct took over. He drew his gun. If he could not free Catherine, then perhaps he could stop the truck. It was the only thing he could think to do.
The first shot rang out across Laurel Creek.
Then another.
And another.
Most of the bullets struck harmlessly against metal or missed entirely. One finally hit a tire, but it accomplished almost nothing. The truck continued forward, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
Inside the vehicle, Catherine could hear shouting all around her, though it sounded distant beneath the pounding of her own heartbeat. Through the windshield, she saw Maximilian desperately trying to wrench the door open with his bare hands. He looked frantic. Terrified.
Their eyes met.
For one suspended moment, Maximilian understood exactly what was happening.
The truck could not be stopped.
The car would not open.
And there was almost no time left.
A cold dread seized him, and memories he had spent a lifetime trying to forget crashed into him all at once.
He remembered rain pouring from a dark sky, blood trickling from the corner of Catherine’s mouth, and the terrible weight of her body in his arms. He remembered the tears on her face, the desperate way she had looked at him, and the unbearable moment when the light faded from her beautiful green eyes forever.
He had already lost her once.
He had carried her lifeless body.
He had lived an entire lifetime haunted by that loss.
He would not endure it again.
A raw, animal sound escaped him as he surged forward. In that moment, he was no longer a king, a professor, nor a businessman, nor even Maximilian Whitmore. He was simply a man who had once failed to save the woman he loved and who had sworn, with every piece of his shattered heart, that he would never fail her again.
The truck was almost upon her. And that was his only thought.
He had to stop it.
And Maximilian ran.
He sprinted across the yard toward William’s old truck, the enormous beast of a vehicle that had survived decades of hard labor, rough terrain, and Preston stubbornness. It was all steel, muscle, and raw power—a relic from another era when vehicles were built to last forever and safety features were considered optional luxuries.
He yanked the door open and jumped inside.
The keys were still in the ignition.
Thank God.
His hands moved instinctively. Reverse first.
The truck lurched backward.
He braked hard, creating just enough distance. Then he shifted gears, gripped the wheel, and took a single deep breath.
There was no time to think.
Only time to act.
Outside, chaos had descended completely.
Richard was still hammering at Catherine’s car window with the wrench, shouting orders and obscenities in equal measure. William stood nearby, screaming his sister’s name while construction workers ran in every direction. Some were trying to wave down the oncoming truck. Others were already fleeing from its path.
Even the driver of the rogue truck appeared to realize what was about to happen. Through the windshield, he could be seen wrestling frantically with the steering wheel, his face pale with terror as he shouted something no one could hear over the deafening roar of engines.
Inside William’s truck, Maximilian saw none of it.
His entire world had narrowed to a single objective.
Stop the truck.
Dust exploded beneath the tires as he slammed his foot onto the accelerator. The old engine roared in protest and then answered, surging forward with frightening force.
The distance vanished.
The trucks collided.
The impact was catastrophic.
Metal screamed.
Glass shattered.
The sound of twisting steel echoed across the ranch like thunder.
Physics took over.
Two massive vehicles moving at tremendous speed slammed into one another and spun violently away from their original paths. The rogue truck veered sharply to the side while William’s truck was thrown in the opposite direction, both vehicles skidding through dirt and debris in an explosion of dust and shattered metal.
And Catherine’s car remained untouched.
For one stunned second, nobody moved.
Then everyone moved at once.
Richard finally succeeded in smashing through the reinforced glass. He reached inside, unlocked the door manually, and practically dragged Catherine out.
"Aunt Cathy!"
But Catherine barely heard him.
The moment her feet touched the ground, she tore free and ran.
Workers had already surrounded the wreckage of the other truck, searching frantically for its driver. William was shouting orders. Someone had called an ambulance.
None of it mattered.
Catherine’s eyes found Maximilian.
The driver’s door of William’s ruined truck opened.
Maximilian climbed out.
Or rather, stumbled out.
He was holding his chest, his face pale beneath the dust and grime coating him. The front end of William’s beloved truck had been completely destroyed. The vehicle was beyond saving.
Even then, Maximilian managed a weak smile.
"Sorry about your truck, William," he said hoarsely.
Catherine reached him and threw herself into his arms.
She could not quite comprehend what had happened.
This madman had looked at death racing toward her and chosen, without hesitation, to place himself in its path.
He had actually done it.
Maximilian immediately pulled back, his hands moving over her shoulders, her arms, her face, checking her with frantic thoroughness.
Only when he was satisfied that she was unharmed did some of the fear leave his eyes.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Catherine stared at him.
He looked terrible.
There was already bruising forming across his chest where the steering wheel must have struck him. He was breathing carefully, as though every breath hurt.
Her hands trembled violently as the shock finally began catching up to her. Tears gathered in her eyes.
"What have you done?" she whispered shakily.
Maximilian placed his hands on her shoulders.
"You’re safe," he said softly. "That’s all that matters."
Catherine looked up at him, wanting to argue, wanting to scold him, wanting to shake him for terrifying her like this.
And then she froze.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Her heart began pounding again.
She looked more closely at his face.
At his eyes.
Then... toward his ears and nose.
Her own eyes widened in horror.
"You’re bleeding," Catherine said.
Her voice dropped, along with her heart.
A thin trail of blood was running from his ear.
"Maximilian..." Her voice broke as she touched his face to confirm what she was seeing with trembling fingers. "Did you hit your head? Your ears are bleeding."
Even as she spoke, Maximilian swayed.
His hand tightened on her shoulder.
Then his knees buckled.
And he began to fall.
"Maximilian!!!"
Catherine’s shout echoed even in that commotion.
"Speak to me!!!"