Chapter 15 - The Boardroom Storm
The heavy Mercedes lunged forward like a battering ram.
Daniel grabbed Victor by the collar of his tactical vest and threw both of them sideways just as the car slammed into the steel crane support beam with a deafening crunch of metal and shattering glass. The radiator exploded in a cloud of white steam.
Julian scrambled out of the smoking wreck, holding a bloody hand to his forehead, clutching a dark leather briefcase containing the company's off-the-books bearer bonds and offshore account keys. He ran toward the pier edge, intending to reach a speedboat tied to the dock below.
"Julian! Stop!" Daniel yelled, picking himself up from the floor.
Victor, coughing blood on the concrete, tried to reach for a dropped knife, but Daniel kicked it into the harbor bay water below. "Stay down, Victor. It's over."
Daniel sprinted out onto the wooden pier, rain slamming into his face.
Julian was at the edge of the dock, frantically untying the mooring line of the high-speed motorboat. The dark river water swirled twenty feet below - the very same river where he had tried to drown Laura and Ben.
"Get back, Mercer!" Julian screamed, pulling a small silver snub-nosed revolver from his jacket pocket. His hands were shaking so violently the barrel wobbled wildly in the air. "I built Bennett Logistics! My brother was a weak fool, and Laura is a parasite! I won't let a homeless piece of trash take it from me!"
"You took yourself down, Julian," Daniel said calmly, taking slow, deliberate steps forward along the slippery wooden planks. "You let greed make you sloppy. Put the gun down."
"I'll kill you!" Julian shrieked.
"You had your shot in the river," Daniel said, his voice dropping into a terrifying, steady tone. "You failed then. You're going to fail now."
Siren lights suddenly erupted down the alleyway. Four police cruisers slammed to a halt at the entrance of Pier 42, their searchlights illuminating the pier in blinding white light.
"Metro PD! Drop your weapon!" Detective Vance's voice boomed over a bullhorn.
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Julian looked at the blinding lights, then down at the dark, freezing water below, and finally at Daniel standing six feet away, calm and unyielding as a mountain.
The gun slipped from Julian's trembling fingers, clattering onto the wet wood. He fell to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably as police officers rushed forward to place him in handcuffs.
