Chapter 10 - Pier 19
Of course I went.
I just didn't go alone.
Adrian hated the plan.
Vanessa hated taking orders from me.
Eleanor, when Adrian finally called her, hated everything.
"You believe Vanessa?" she asked over the phone.
"I believe documents," I said. "And your signature is on one."
"You don't understand what you found."
"Then meet us at Pier 19 and explain it."
"Naomi—"
I hung up.
At 2:07 a.m., rain began over the Hudson.
Pier 19 was an abandoned event terminal waiting for redevelopment. Dark glass. Steel beams. Empty loading bays.
I carried a messenger bag filled with copies of the Harbor files.
The originals were somewhere else.
Martin didn't need to know that.
I entered through the east door.
"I'm here!"
My voice echoed.
A spotlight clicked on.
My mother sat in the center of the old terminal.
Caleb stood behind her.
Martin stood ten yards away.
Lena was beside him.
My chest tightened.
"You too?"
Lena said nothing.
Martin smiled. "The files."
"My mother first."
"You're negotiating from the wrong end of the room."
I dropped the bag on the floor.
"Then shoot me and spend the rest of your life wondering where the originals are."
His smile vanished.
Good.
My mother stared at me with furious eyes.
"Naomi, you never listen."
"Runs in the family."
Caleb grabbed her shoulder.
I took one step forward.
Lena raised her weapon.
"Don't."
I stopped.
"Are you really with him?"
Her eyes flicked to the ceiling.
One tiny movement.
I followed it.
Security camera.
She wanted me to know we were being watched.
Martin opened the bag and checked the papers.
"Where is the signature page?"
"Safe."
"Wrong answer."
He nodded to Caleb.
Caleb drew a knife.
Then the terminal doors exploded inward.
A black SUV crashed through the side entrance.
Vanessa was driving.
Adrian was in the passenger seat yelling something that sounded a lot like, "This was not the plan!"
Caleb turned.
My mother slammed the back of her head into his face.
May you like
Lena shot the camera.
And every light in the terminal went out.
