Chapter 9 - THE PRICE OF LOYALTY
The industrial ladder on the side of the barge was slick with diesel fuel.
Lorenzo climbed without looking down.
He stepped onto the steel deck with his hands raised.
Six mercenaries wearing balaclavas surrounded him instantly.
They stripped him of his tactical vest, his sidearms, and his boot knife.
A heavy rifle butt slammed into Lorenzo’s ribs.
He grunted, dropping to one knee on the metal grating, but kept his head high.
“Bring him up,” a voice called from above.
Lorenzo was hauled up a spiral staircase to the control bridge.
Silvio sat in the captain’s leather swivel chair, sipping bourbon from a crystal glass.
In the corner, tied to a structural pipe with heavy zip-ties, sat Leo.
The nineteen-year-old boy was bruised and bloodied, his lip split, but his eyes were wide with shock.
“Lorenzo?” Leo choked out. “Where’s Viv? Did they hurt Viv?”
“She’s safe, kid,” Lorenzo said evenly, not breaking eye contact with Silvio. “She’s at Boston General.”
Silvio chuckled, swirling his amber liquor.
“Not for long, nephew. My boys at the hospital should be wrapping things up right about now.”
“Your boys are dead,” Lorenzo said coldly. “I put the maintenance man’s head through the porcelain.”
Silvio’s smile froze.
He set his glass down on the steel console with a sharp clink.
“You always were a sentimental fool,” Silvio sneered. “Arthur Vaughn was weak. You took his daughter into your bed and let her poison your mind with morality.”
“Arthur was ten times the man you will ever be,” Lorenzo replied.
Silvio stood up, drawing a chrome-plated revolver from his waistband.
“Arthur tried to shut down my pharmaceutical pipelines. He thought he could run a clean port in a dirty world. So I had his pharmacist alter his digital prescriptions. A little extra potassium chloride in his evening dose. His heart simply gave out.”
Silvio walked over to Leo, resting the hot barrel of the revolver against the boy’s temple.
Leo whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut.
“And now,” Silvio continued, “Arthur’s son will sign over the remaining maritime charters to my holding company in Panama. Then Arthur’s daughter will receive two sealed urns.”
Lorenzo’s gaze dropped to the control panel beside Silvio.
A red digital readout was counting down:
DETONATION TIMER: 04:15.
Silvio had rigged the barge’s main tanks to blow after his helicopter extraction.
“You’re not getting on that chopper, Silvio,” Lorenzo said.
Silvio cocked the revolver against Leo’s head.
“Give me the encryption passphrase for the offshore accounts, Lorenzo. Or the boy dies right now.”
Lorenzo took a slow, deliberate step forward.
“The passphrase is two words.”
“Tell me!”
“Vivienne’s husband.”
Silvio frowned.
Before he could process the insult, Lorenzo lunged.
He didn't grab the gun.
He grabbed the heavy fire axe mounted on the bulkhead wall beside him.
With a single, thunderous swing, Lorenzo buried the steel blade into the main electrical conduit beneath the bridge console.
May you like
Sparks erupted in a blinding shower of blue and white fire.
The entire control room plunged into pitch-black darkness.
