Chapter 4 - The Unholy AllianceThe silence in the room was suffocating. Outside, the wind rattled the French doors leading to the cliffside balcony.
Silas slowly looked down at Nora. "Yes," he said plainly. "I signed the land transfer clearance after Caleb was gone. It was business."
Nora felt as though she had been struck in the chest with a sledgehammer. The man she had just dragged off the ice, the man she had risked her life to save with her tiny paring knife, was one of the monsters responsible for her father's destruction.
"You bastard," she sobbed, stepping back. "You're no better than him!"
"I never said I was a saint, girl," Silas said coldly. "I am a criminal. But Arthur made a mistake tonight."
Silas turned his dark gaze back to Mayor Vance.
"Arthur thought he could eliminate me, take full control of the harbor, and sell the whole town out to the Boston cartel," Silas continued. "He forgot that while I take my cut, I keep the real wolves away from this town. Now, Arthur, tell her the rest of the story."
Vance pressed himself harder against the books. "What rest? You're finished, Silas! My associates are on their way here right now! They’ll tear this house down!"
"Tell her who brought the fire to Caleb's boat," Silas barked, his voice thunderous. "Tell her, or Julian puts a bullet in your knee right now."
Julian racked the slide of his pistol with an ominous click.
Vance gasped, terror breaking his resolve. "It was Miller! Police Chief Miller! He was the one who went out to the dock that night! He set the charge under the fuel tank! I just authorized the land seizure!"
Nora gasped. Chief Miller—the man who had come to her house three years ago, held her hand, and promised her that the department had investigated every angle of her father's death. The man who had sat at the Harborlight Diner every morning, drinking black coffee and tipping her two dollars with a warm, grandfatherly smile.
It was all a lie. The entire town leadership was a cabal of murderers and thieves.
Suddenly, the front gates of the mansion crashed open. The heavy sound of multiple engines echoed up the driveway. Headlights cut through the sheer curtain windows of the study.
"They're here," Julian said grimly, looking out the window. "Three SUVs. At least a dozen heavy shooters."
Vance let out a wild, breathless laugh. "You're too late, Silas! Nikolai and his men are here! You brought yourself right into the butcher shop!"
Silas didn't panic. He calmly reached into his fur coat and pulled out a small, heavy detonator switch.
"What is that?" Vance stammered, his laughter instantly dying.
"I’ve owned Ironwood Bay for thirty years, Arthur," Silas whispered. "Do you really think I’d come into your home without setting the stage?"
Silas slammed his thumb down on the red button.
A deafening explosion rocked the mansion from below. The entire basement floor shook violently as fire leaped past the exterior windows. The electrical grid cut out instantly, plunging the grand house into total, terrifying darkness.
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"Julian! Nora! Out the balcony!" Silas shouted over the roaring alarms.
Silas grabbed Vance by the throat, hauling the screaming Mayor along like a ragdoll. They burst through the glass doors onto the snow-covered balcony just as heavy automatic gunfire began tearing through the study doors behind them.
