Chapter 16 - The Second Trip to Pier 19
I told Brooks everything.
Then I lied to her.
I said I would wait.
I didn’t.
Noah was my son.
Reason had limits.
The warehouse at Pier 19 had been cleared after the earlier raid, but Victor knew the docks better than we did.
He chose a different building.
No police lights.
No backup visible.
Just me and the fireproof box.
Inside, Noah sat in a chair.
Untied.
Celeste stood beside him.
Victor held the gun.
My mother sat against the wall with duct tape over her mouth.
“What is she doing here?”
Victor shrugged.
“Insurance.”
Noah saw me.
“Daddy.”
“I’m here, buddy.”
Victor held out his hand.
“The box.”
I placed it on a metal table.
He opened it.
Flipped through the documents.
For the first time, he looked satisfied.
Then Celeste moved.
She grabbed Noah.
Pulled him behind her.
Victor swung the gun toward her.
“You never learn.”
“No,” she said. “I finally did.”
He fired.
I charged him.
The shot hit metal.
Celeste had shoved Noah down behind a forklift.
I crashed into Victor.
We went over the table.
The box spilled open.
Papers flew everywhere.
My mother screamed behind the tape.
Victor hit me with the gun.
White light burst behind my eyes.
He raised it again.
Then Celeste struck him with a steel bar.
He dropped.
Not unconscious.
Just angry.
He grabbed her ankle.
She fell.
I kicked the gun away.
Noah ran toward me.
A second gunshot erupted from somewhere above.
Victor stopped moving.
Blood spread across his shirt.
I looked toward the catwalk.
My father stood there holding a pistol.
His face looked empty.
He had shot Victor.
Detective Brooks and officers flooded the building seconds later.
My father lowered the weapon.
Brooks shouted, “Drop it!”
He did.
Victor was still breathing.
Barely.
As paramedics worked on him, he caught my sleeve.
I leaned close.
He whispered, “Ask Richard who was driving.”
“What?”
“The night Emily died.”
May you like
His eyes moved toward my father.
“Ask him who was driving the second car.”
