Chapter 16 - When Allies Turn Strangers
The firefight on Pier 14 escalated into a thunderous warzone.
Marcus Hale fought with fierce, desperate bravery from the gantry catwalks, providing suppressing fire that kept Thorne's heavy gunners pinned behind shipping crates.
"Miller! Behind you!" Marcus yelled, firing two rounds into a mercenary flanking the veteran detective.
Miller ducked behind a forklift, reloading his shotgun with smooth, practiced motions. "Thanks, Hale! Never thought I'd owe my life to a bank robber!"
"Call it even for the eighteen years I spent running!" Marcus shouted back, dodging a hail of automatic fire that sparked against the steel railing.
Down on the main concrete pier, Caleb climbed the metal ladder leading to the crane control tower where Frank Thorne was holed up.
Suddenly, the metal door at the top of the ladder flew open.
Roman—Thorne's chief enforcer, a hulking six-foot-four mercenary with a scarred neck and combat knife drawn—lunged downward, slashing viciously at Caleb's face.
Caleb leaned back, the blade slicing through the collar of his denim jacket. Using the ladder's momentum, Caleb kicked hard off the steel rungs, driving both boots into Roman's chest and forcing the giant mercenary back onto the platform.
The two collided on the rain-slicked metal grating high above the churning black ocean.
Roman was immensely powerful, throwing brutal, bone-cracking hooks that dented the steel railings. But Caleb was faster, fueled by eighteen years of righteous resolve. Caleb slipped a heavy right cross, trapped Roman's arm, and drove three rapid palm strikes into the mercenary's solar plexus and throat.
Roman gasped for air, staggering backward.
With a final, explosive hip throw, Caleb flipped the 250-pound mercenary over the guardrail, sending him crashing into an industrial safety net twenty feet below, completely neutralized.
Caleb kicked open the door to the crane control booth.
Inside, Frank Thorne stood with his back to the wall, his Magnum pointed directly between Caleb's eyes.
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"End of the line, Caleb," Thorne breathed, rain dripping down his pale face. "You die right here, just like your pathetic father."
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