Chapter 14 - THE FINAL SHOWDOWN AT PIER FORTY-TWO
The rain had stopped, leaving a heavy, freezing mist over Pier Forty-Two.
Rusted shipping containers rose like monolithic tombstones against the dark waters of Lake Michigan.
Roman’s SUV slid to a halt near warehouse four.
Viktor Morena stood waiting beside a black sedan, flanked by four armed enforcers.
Marcus’s betrayal had been Morena’s masterstroke—and his final gamble.
“Costa!” Morena shouted over the sound of lapping waves, holding a silver revolver to the head of a captured guard.
“You brought the girl!”
Roman stepped out of the vehicle into the cold mist.
Rebecca stepped out right beside him, her hand resting on the hidden revolver in her coat pocket.
“Let the guard go, Morena,” Roman called out, his voice echoing across the concrete pier.
“It’s me you want.”
“I want the ledger, the confession, and your empire, Roman!” Morena laughed maniacally.
“And then I want the girl!”
“You’ll get nothing,” Rebecca stepped forward into the sodium lights.
She pulled the leather diary and the manila envelope from her coat.
“Here is the truth about your entire syndicate, Morena.”
“Every murder, every bribe, signed by your own hand and Senior Costa.”
Morena’s face twisted in rage.
“Kill them!” he screamed to his enforcers.
Before the men could raise their weapons, federal sirens wailed through the night air.
Dozens of unmarked police cruisers and federal black-and-whites swarmed the pier from all sides, blocking every exit.
Red and blue emergency lights painted the shipping containers in flashing colors.
“Federal Agents! Drop your weapons!” a voice boomed through a megaphone.
Morena panicked, lunging forward to grab Rebecca.
Roman moved faster than thought.
He tackled Morena squarely in the chest, sending both men crashing hard onto the wet concrete.
A brief, brutal struggle ended as Roman pinned Morena’s arms behind his back.
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Federal agents swarmed in, slapping steel cuffs onto Morena and his remaining guards.
The war was over.
