Chapter 9 - THE ASHES OF THE PIER
The explosion lifted the patrol boat clean out of the water.
A twenty-foot geyser of burning diesel and splintered fiberglass rained down across the canal.
The shockwave blew out every remaining pane of glass in the old mill.
Julian’s mercenaries were thrown like ragdolls across the burning timber dock.
Emma gripped the iron wheel in the pump house as the brick tower shook to its very foundation.
Heat washed over her face, singing her hair.
"Adrian!" she screamed into the roaring smoke.
The burning fuel spread across the surface of the black water in dancing ribbons of orange flame.
For five agonizing seconds, nothing moved in the canal.
Then, thirty feet from the burning wreckage, a dark head broke through the oily surface.
Adrian dragged himself onto the rusted iron ladder of the seawall.
He coughed violently, spitting river water and soot.
Emma scrambled down the brick stairs of the pump house, taking the steps three at a time.
She reached the seawall and grabbed his forearms, hauling him up onto the concrete ledge.
He collapsed onto his back, his wet clothes heavy, his chest heaving.
The bandage on his shoulder was soaked with black water and fresh blood, but his eyes were bright, fierce, and alive.
He looked up at her through the smoke.
"You turned the wheel," he wheezed with a ragged grin.
"You blew up a boat!" she shouted, half-laughing, half-crying.
"Seemed like the appropriate response."
A groan sounded from the burning wreckage on the dock.
Julian was crawling through the mud on his hands and knees.
His face was blackened by soot, his tactical jacket shredded.
He reached for a fallen pistol in the dirt.
Adrian was on his feet in a heartbeat.
He crossed the distance between them with terrifying speed.
He planted his heavy boot squarely onto Julian's outstretched wrist.
Bone snapped with a sickening crack.
Julian shrieked in agony, rolling onto his back, clutching his broken arm.
Adrian stood over him, the dripping Colt 1911 aimed directly between Julian's eyes.
"Adrian... please," Julian wept, blood running from his nostrils.
"Sterling forced me!"
"He said he'd kill my family!"
"You don't have a family, Julian," Adrian said coldly.
"You sold your brother out to the DEA eight years ago."
Julian stared up into the barrel of the gun.
His face drained of all color.
"Where is David?" Adrian asked.
"He's at the Sterling Tower," Julian gasped, desperate to buy another breath.
"He's uploading the master biometric files into the federal port network!"
"Sterling is transferring all your shipping lanes to his offshore shell company at 6:00 AM!"
Adrian checked his watch.
It was 4:15 AM.
Less than two hours before the sunrise would cement Dominic Sterling's absolute dominion over the Midwest.
"Who else has the encryption keys?" Adrian asked.
"Nobody!" Julian cried.
"Only David's terminal on the sixty-fourth floor!"
"If you don't stop the upload by 5:59, Thorne Maritime ceases to exist!"
Adrian looked down at the man who had betrayed everything his family had built.
"Thank you, Julian."
"You... you're letting me go?" Julian whispered, hope flickering in his eyes.
"No," Adrian said softly.
He swung the heavy steel slide of the Colt against Julian's temple with precise, concussive force.
Julian went limp, collapsing face-down into the wet mud.
Adrian reached down, pulled Julian's zip-ties from his belt, and bound his hands and feet behind his back.
He tossed Julian into the empty cargo hold of an abandoned grain barge.
"The police will find him by noon," Adrian said, turning back to Emma.
Emma stood in the glow of the dying fire.
Her face was pale, but her jaw was set in rigid determination.
"We have an hour and forty minutes," she said.
Adrian walked over to her.
"Emma, you've done enough."
"Take the keys to the Charger."
"Drive north to Milwaukee."
"Disappear for three days until the smoke clears."
Emma looked at him.
She took a step closer, closing the distance between them until her chest brushed his.
"David is using my architectural access codes to steal your company, Adrian."
"My name is on that building's master server."
"If you go in there alone, his security systems will lock you in the elevator shaft and crush you."
She poked him firmly in the center of his chest.
"You need an architect."
Adrian stared down at her.
A slow, profound admiration blossomed in his dark eyes.
May you like
"The building is a fortress, Emma."
"Good thing I designed the secret doors," she said.
