Chapter 13 - UNDER THE TERMINAL
The tunnel smelled like rust and river water.
Agent Shaw moved ahead of me with two tactical officers.
My father had been ordered to stay behind.
He argued for exactly forty seconds.
Then I reminded him that he had a bullet wound.
He called that “a scratch.”
I called him a hypocrite.
For some reason, that almost made him smile.
Now we were beneath the freight terminal.
Daniel screamed again.
Closer.
Shaw raised a fist.
We stopped.
Through a grate above us, I heard Voss.
“You're late.”
Selene answered.
“Traffic.”
Even now, she sounded irritated rather than afraid.
Voss laughed.
“Where's the drive?”
“Where's Daniel?”
A chair scraped.
Daniel said, “Don't give him anything.”
Something hit him.
Hard.
My whole body tensed.
Shaw shook her head.
Not yet.
Selene said, “I want protection.”
“You're in no position to negotiate.”
“I know every account.”
“Some.”
“I know Singapore.”
Silence.
Then Voss said, “Careful.”
Selene pushed harder.
“I know Brussels. I know Montreal. I know the governor.”
Another silence.
Even through the floor, I could feel his anger.
Then came the sound we needed.
Footsteps moving away from Daniel.
Shaw counted silently.
Three.
Two.
One.
Agents blew the service door.
Chaos.
“FEDERAL AGENTS!”
Voss's men reached for weapons.
Selene dropped flat.
Daniel kicked backward, knocking one guard into a table.
I ran toward him.
“Elena?”
“Can you walk?”
“I can complain.”
“Good enough.”
I cut the plastic restraints around his wrists.
Gunfire cracked overhead.
Voss ran toward the east loading dock.
Shaw chased him.
I started after her.
Daniel grabbed me.
“No.”
“He killed my mother.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know enough.”
“Elena.”
I looked at him.
His face was bruised and bloody.
“Don't become careless because you're angry.”
That was something my father would say.
Something my mother would say.
Something I needed to hear.
I nodded.
Then we moved.
Outside, Voss had reached the river.
A speedboat waited at the dock.
Shaw was thirty yards behind him.
Too far.
He jumped aboard.
The engine roared.
Then the boat died.
Voss looked down.
Tried again.
Nothing.
From the darkness beside the dock, my father stepped forward holding a remote control.
“I financed the marina too,” Victor said.
I almost laughed.
Voss raised his gun.
Everything stopped.
He aimed directly at my father.
I shouted, “Malcolm!”
Voss turned.
Just enough.
Shaw fired.
The bullet hit his shoulder.
His gun spun into the river.
Agents swarmed the boat.
Voss screamed as they dragged him onto the dock.
He looked at me.
“You think this ends with me?”
I walked closer.
“No.”
He smiled through the pain.
“Good.”
Then he said something that froze every drop of blood in my body.
“Because Julian has the original ledger.”
I turned.
May you like
Across the terminal, the police vehicle where Julian had been held was empty.
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