Chapter 13 - Blood and Saltwater
Bruno smelled the chemical ignition of the grenade before the pin had even fully cleared the spoon.
Instead of retreating to save himself, the hound released Keller’s shattered arm and clamped his teeth firmly around the grenade’s housing, ripping the live explosive out of the vest. With a violent snap of his neck, Bruno whipped his head backward, hurling the armed canister high out over the open water.
The grenade detonated fifty yards out in midair with a blinding white phosphorous flash, scorching the night sky and raining liquid fire harmlessly onto the rolling waves.
Deprived of his final weapon, Keller scrambled on his hands and knees toward the edge of the dock, lunging for the mooring lines of the tactical boat. Julian stepped over the debris, his boot coming down hard on Keller’s chest, pinning the traitor to the wet timber.
""Who funded the Zurich abduction?"" Julian demanded, pressing the hot barrel of his rifle against the hollow of Keller's throat. ""Give me the board members' names.""
Keller coughed out a wet, mocking laugh. ""You think... you think it stops with Ares? The entire defense sub-committee... bought and paid for... they will come for your daughter, Julian... she has Sarah’s blood... she has the neural key...""
Julian didn't blink. ""Then I will bury them all.""
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A sudden sound cut through the drizzle: the heavy, rhythmic thrumming of twin helicopter rotors approaching fast from the southern bay, their powerful searchlights cutting swathes through the low-hanging fog.
""Contractor air support,"" Sarah yelled, struggling to her feet and scooping Emma into her arms. Emma clung to her mother's neck with a fierce, terrified grip, whispering broken words of recognition. ""Julian, we have thirty seconds before they bracket this entire pier with 30mm cannon fire!""
