Chapter 6 - Footsteps on the Gravel
""North Harbor Vaults was shut down twelve years ago,"" Julian said, his eyes fixed on the corroded brass tag. ""The city condemned the entire pier after the commercial port relocated north.""
""Then why did Richard keep a key to it buried under the stone lantern?"" Eleanor asked, keeping her arm tightly wrapped around Lily. ""He buried it deep enough that only a dog digging after a rabbit could uncover it.""
Julian stood up, slipping the key into his pocket alongside the old photograph. ""Because whatever is inside that vault wasn't meant to survive. Or maybe... he couldn't bring himself to destroy it.""
""Julian, you heard what he said before the police took him,"" Eleanor warned, her voice trembling with rising panic. ""He called Lily a bastard. He told us that if you tear down his walls, you’ll be crushed. He wasn't talking about money, Julian. He was talking about blood.""
Before Julian could answer, the exterior motion sensor lights flared to life outside the bay windows, washing the room in harsh, brilliant white.
Julian instantly reached for the wall switch, killing the living room lamps and plunging the interior into shadows. ""Get Lily into the master bedroom. Lock the door and don't open it unless you hear my voice.""
""Julian, no—""
""Go, Eleanor! Now!"" Julian hissed, moving toward the corner cabinet where he kept his sporting equipment. He pulled out a heavy aluminum baseball bat, testing its balance in his right hand.
Outside, the crunch of tires on wet gravel echoed through the night. It wasn't the screaming siren of a police squad car. It was the low, throaty rumble of a heavy diesel engine. Julian crept toward the edge of the velvet curtains, peeling back the fabric just an inch to peer into the driveway.
A black heavy-duty SUV sat idling at the perimeter of the lawn, its headlights turned off. Only the amber parking lights glowed through the falling rain. Through the tinted windshield, Julian could see the silhouettes of two men. They weren't making a move toward the front porch. Instead, one of them rolled down the passenger window and raised a handheld device, pointing a small red laser dot directly at the glass of the living room window.
Julian ducked instinctively as the laser dot flicked across the wall, searching the room like a cold eye.
Then, his smartphone vibrated violently in his trouser pocket. Julian kept low against the wainscoting, pulling the phone out and tapping the screen.
May you like
It was an unknown number. He swiped to accept and brought the phone to his ear, remaining dead silent.
A voice he had never heard before—gravelly, cold, and completely devoid of emotion—spoke into the line: ""You have two hours to bring the brass key to Berth 14, Julian. If you don't show up, we will set fire to that house while your daughter is asleep in her bed.""
