Chapter 5 - The Pier 42 Massacre
Muzzle flashes illuminated the heavy fog in rhythmic, deadly bursts.
Vincent moved like a wraith through the chaos. He didn't take cover; he advanced. Every shot from his pistol found a target. His men dropped around him, but the Consortium forces were taking heavier losses. Vincent’s fury was a physical force, driving his soldiers forward.
He threw himself behind a stack of wooden crates as a hail of bullets splintered the wood above his head. He reloaded his weapon, his breath ragged.
"Marcus! Cover the flank! I'm going up that gangplank!"
"Sir, it’s a suicide run!" Marcus shouted over the din of gunfire.
"She called me Daddy, Marcus! I am not leaving her!"
Vincent sprinted out from cover, dodging a spray of bullets. He leaped onto the steel gangplank just as the cargo ship began to slowly pull away from the dock. The massive ropes holding it snapped with the force of whips.
Two guards rushed him on the narrow walkway. Vincent shot the first through the throat. The second tackled him, sending both men crashing onto the metal deck of the moving ship.
They traded brutal blows. The guard managed to pin Vincent, wrapping his hands around Vincent's throat, choking the life out of him. Vincent’s vision began to dim. He looked up at the ship's upper deck and saw Grandmaster Vance watching him with a smug smile.
No. Not like this.
Vincent reached blindly to his side, his fingers brushing against a heavy metal winch bar. He grabbed it and swung it with all his remaining strength into the side of the guard's head. The man collapsed, lifeless.
Gasping for air, Vincent stood up and raced toward the bridge of the ship.
He kicked the door open. Grandmaster Vance stood there, holding a small silver pistol to Lily’s head. The massive bodyguard lay dead on the floor—apparently shot by Vance himself to eliminate a witness or a liability.
"One more step, Rossi, and I paint this room with her brains," Vance sneered, his hand shaking slightly.
Lily was sobbing, her small body trembling against the old man's chest. "Daddy..."
Vincent lowered his gun slowly. "Vance. It’s over. Look outside. Your men are dead. My forces control the pier. This ship isn't going anywhere; I’ve already had my hackers override the navigation grid."
"I don't care!" Vance screamed, his aristocratic facade crumbling into madness. "The Consortium cannot lose! If we cannot have the bloodline, no one will!"
"You're right," a soft voice spoke from the shadows of the bridge.
Before Vance could react, Elena stepped out from behind a stack of server racks.
Vincent’s eyes widened in sheer shock. She had snuck onto the ship before the battle even began, hiding in the cargo hold.
In her hand, Elena held a flare gun she had grabbed from the ship's emergency station.
Without a trace of hesitation, she aimed it directly at Vance's face and pulled the trigger.
The blinding, burning magnesium flare hit Vance squarely in the eye. He screamed in agonizing pain, dropping his pistol and releasing Lily as he fell backward, clutching his burning face.
"Lily! Run!" Elena shrieked.
Lily bolted toward Vincent. Vincent scooped her up into his arms, squeezing her tight against his chest, feeling her little heart hammering like a trapped bird.
Vance, blinded and maddened by pain, staggered backward, tripping over the low threshold of the bridge door, falling over the railing—and plunging straight into the massive, churning iron propellers of the cargo ship below.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Vincent holding Lily, looked at Elena, who was panting, the empty flare gun dropping from her hands.
"You came," Vincent whispered.
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"I told you," Elena said, collapsing into his arms, wrapping them both in a tight embrace. "I wasn't going to let them take our family again."
HOOK FOR FACEBOOK: The Grandmaster is dead. The triplets are safe. But the ultimate twist is yet to come... Read the final chapter for a jaw-dropping ending you won't see coming!
