Chapter 5 - Pier 19
Elena grabbed the phone before Adrian could stop her.
“I’m going.”
“No.”
Her eyes flashed for the first time. “You said I decide.”
Adrian took the hit without reacting. “You decide what happens to your body. You do not get to walk alone into a kidnapping because you’re scared.”
“He’s my brother.”
“I know.”
“You don’t.”
Her voice broke. “Nico was nine the first time he stood between me and my father. Nine. He lied and said he broke a vase so Victor would stop yelling at me. He has been paying for me his entire life.”
Adrian’s anger shifted direction.
“Then we bring him home,” he said.
“We?”
“Yes.”
Ten minutes later, Elena had changed into black pants, a sweater, and flat boots. Adrian gave her a lightweight vest.
She stared at it. “You own bulletproof clothing in women’s sizes?”
“I own a security company.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting tonight.”
It was the first almost-normal exchange between them.
Then Dante entered with a tablet. “Pier 19 is dead property. Cameras have been looped. We found three vehicles.”
“Police?” Elena asked.
Adrian looked at her. “Your investigator?”
She hesitated. “Special Agent Mara Chen.”
“Call her.”
Elena blinked. “You want the FBI involved?”
“I want your brother alive.”
Mara answered on the second ring.
Within minutes, federal agents were moving toward the pier while Adrian’s team approached from the opposite side. Elena stayed in an armored SUV where she could hear everything through Dante’s radio.
At 1:17 a.m., the warehouse doors opened.
A man stumbled out.
Nico.
Elena reached for the door.
Adrian caught the handle, not her wrist. “Wait.”
A red dot moved across Nico’s chest.
Sniper.
Dante shouted over the radio, “Shooter on the crane!”
Everything erupted at once.
Agents took cover. Adrian’s team moved. Nico dropped flat as glass shattered overhead.
Elena screamed his name.
Then a second figure appeared behind him.
Victor’s missing driver held a pistol to Nico’s neck.
“Phone!” the man shouted. “Send the girl with the phone!”
Elena opened her door.
Adrian blocked it with his body.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Adrian.”
The driver dragged Nico backward.
Then Nico did something none of them expected.
He slammed his head into the man’s face and ran.
May you like
The gun fired.
Nico fell.
