Chapter 9 - The DecoyStepping out from behind a stack of wooden pallets was Marcus, bleeding from his arm but grinning from ear to ear. Sitting securely on his uninjured shoulder, sucking on a lollipop, was four-year-old Lily.
Alejandro whipped around in shock. “What?! How?!”
“Did you really think a billionaire’s security chief wouldn't track a heat signature?” Marcus yelled. “The container over the water is empty, you old fool. We extracted the target from a van parked a mile away!”
Alejandro looked at the remote in his hand, then back at the empty container, panic seizing his chest. He reached into his coat for his gun.
Bang.
Grace didn't miss. The sniper rifle kicked back into her bruised shoulder as she shot the remote control clean out of Alejandro’s hand, shattering it into pieces.
Before Alejandro could draw his weapon, police sirens flooded the pier. Dozens of FBI SUVs swarmed the docks, helicopters spotlighting the area. Victoria’s corrupt cops had no jurisdiction here; Nathan had taken the evidence directly to the feds the night before.
Alejandro dropped to his knees, throwing his hands in the air.
Grace sprinted across the pier, tears streaming down her face as she snatched Lily from Marcus’s arms, burying her face in the little girl's hair. Nathan wrapped his arms around both of them, sobbing in sheer, unadulterated relief.
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“You’re safe,” Nathan whispered, kissing Grace’s forehead, then Lily’s cheek. “You’re both safe.”
But the story wasn't over. As the FBI hauled Alejandro away in chains, an older man in a sharp tailored suit stepped out of the lead FBI vehicle. It was the Attorney General of the United States. And he was walking straight toward Grace.
