Chapter 25 - The Signal in the Static
"She signed your death warrant, Kane, not mine," I replied instantly, staring into the mercenary's hardened eyes without blinking. "Victoria Sterling's father is under federal indictment for securities fraud. Her family trust will be seized by the SEC at dawn. The money she promised you doesn't exist. She's using you as a disposable shield while Julian prepares to sacrifice you to save his own skin."
Kane looked down at his radio, the screeching voice of Victoria growing increasingly frantic in the background. A shadow of doubt crossed his weathered face.
Before Kane could respond, the sky above Pier 42 ignited in a dazzling flash of white phosphorus.
A sharp concussive *crack* echoed across the water, followed by the deafening roar of twin marine engines. A sleek black interceptor boat smashed through the swells alongside the pier, spraying sheets of salt water over the concrete apron.
On the bow of the interceptor stood Dominic Vance, flanked by two ex-military contractors wielding suppressed tactical carbines.
"Federal jurisdiction or private justice, Kane?!" Dominic bellowed through a megaphone over the howling gale. "Make your choice right now! Drop your weapon and take the fifty million Clara just wired to your private Cayman account, or die on this dock for a deadbeat who deserted his own dying son!"
Kane's eyes went wide. His phone in his tactical vest buzzed with a sudden satellite notification. He pulled it out, glanced at the glowing screen, and saw a clean, confirmed fifty-million-dollar wire confirmation from Vance Holdings' untouchable Swiss private vault—personally authorized by my biometric token.
Money talks. But survival screams.
Kane stepped back, lowering his rifle. A cynical grin spread across his scarred face. "Contract terminated," he said flatly. "Julian is on the lower deck of the *Sirena*, docked at slip fourteen. He has the kid in the captain's quarters. He's armed with a .357 magnum and he's coked out of his mind. Good luck, Mrs. Vance."
Without another word, Kane melted backward into the shadows of the warehouse containers, abandoning Julian to his fate.
I didn't waste a single breath. Adrenaline surged through my veins like pure liquid fire. I scooped my dropped pistol from the ground, wiped the rain from my eyes, and sprinted down the slick wooden planks of Pier 42 toward Slip 14.
May you like
My baby was only two hundred yards away.
***
