Chapter 6 - WHISPERS IN THE DARK
The floorboards remained deathly still.
Adrian rose from the couch without making a sound.
His face was pale, but his movements were terrifyingly smooth.
He gestured for me to extinguish the kerosene lamp.
I blew out the flame.
Pitch darkness enveloped the room.
The only illumination came from the lightning flashing outside the cabin window.
Adrian slid toward the front door like a shadow.
He gripped the doorknob with his left hand, his Sig Sauer raised in his right.
I picked up a heavy cast-iron fireplace poker from the hearth.
I followed two steps behind him, my heart slamming against my ribs like a caged beast.
Adrian turned the latch.
He threw the heavy wooden door open and lunged onto the porch.
Lightning flashed.
A silhouette stood at the corner of the house, holding a silenced pistol.
Adrian fired once.
The intruder took the round directly in the chest and collapsed into the wet ferns.
A second figure burst from behind the Ford Raptor, sprinting straight toward the open door.
He never saw me standing in the doorway shadow.
As the man lunged forward, I swung the iron poker with everything I had.
The heavy metal struck the side of his knee with a sickening crack.
The man howled, collapsing onto the porch boards.
Adrian was on him in an instant.
He drove his boot into the man's throat, pressing hard enough to choke off his air.
The lightning flashed again.
I gasped.
"Frank?" I asked.
It was Grant Mercer’s personal driver and bodyguard.
The man choked under Adrian’s heel, rain plastering his hair to his skull.
Adrian eased the pressure just enough for Frank to draw breath.
"Who sent you, Frank?" Adrian asked.
His voice was terrifyingly calm.
Frank spat a mouthful of blood onto the cedar planks.
"You're already dead, Adrian," Frank wheezed, laughing with cracked lips.
"Vincent Wells took the terminal an hour ago. The docks are his."
Adrian leaned down, pressing the hot barrel of his gun against Frank’s temple.
"Where is Grant?"
"He's with Caroline Wells at the downtown penthouse," Frank gasped, his eyes widening in terror.
"They're calling an emergency council of the Five Families at dawn."
Adrian’s eyes narrowed into slits.
"To announce my funeral?"
"To announce your betrayal," Frank choked out.
"They have forged documents. They're telling the bosses you sold out the Philadelphia docks to the federal government."
My hand flew to my chest.
"They're turning your own men against you," I whispered.
Adrian didn't blink.
"And what was your assignment, Frank?"
Frank hesitated.
Adrian cocked the hammer of the Sig Sauer.
"To bring back the key," Frank cried out in panic.
"Grant knew Thomas Bennett gave it to his kid! He knew Nora had it!"
Adrian’s jaw set like cold granite.
He struck Frank across the jaw with the pistol butt, knocking him unconscious instantly.
Adrian stood up in the pouring rain.
He turned toward me, his dark hair soaked, his eyes burning with an unholy fire.
"They don't just want my empire, Nora."
May you like
He walked toward me, water dripping from his broad shoulders.
"They want to erase your father’s name forever."
