Chapter 12 - Fire on the Pier
The helicopter touched down with a violent, bone-jarring skid, sliding twenty feet across the wet concrete of the pier before spinning 180 degrees and slamming into a row of steel cargo containers. Sparks erupted into the rain as the rotor blades sheared off against the metal crates, screaming like dying beasts.
Inside the cabin, the emergency lights flickered to life. Marcus was already moving. He kicked the warped passenger door open with a single brutal strike, unbuckling Emma's harness and dragging her clear of the smoking wreckage before the fuel lines could ignite.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, coughing through the black smoke.
"I’m fine! Go!" Emma urged, stumbling to her feet on the slick tarmac.
Across the pier, Victoria's helicopter was struggling to lift off, fighting the sudden gusts of wind coming off the river. Realizing she couldn't take off in the squall with Marcus's wreckage blocking the clearance, Victoria abandoned the craft. Clutching the titanium case, she sprinted toward a waiting speed boat docked at the end of the maintenance ramp.
Marcus took off after her, his long strides closing the distance across the shipping terminal. Emma followed right behind, running through the torrential rain, kicking off her ruined heels to sprint barefoot across the cold, wet asphalt.
Victoria reached the boat ramp, turning abruptly and raising her weapon to fire. But Marcus was faster. He threw himself forward in a low slide, sweeping her legs out from under her. Victoria fell hard onto the metal grated ramp, the silver briefcase flying from her grasp and sliding across the edge toward the black, churning waters of the river below.
"No!" Victoria screamed, lunging for the briefcase.
Emma threw herself forward onto the wet grated ramp, her hands shooting out just as the case tipped over the edge. Her fingers caught the leather handle, the heavy weight of the titanium box almost dragging her over the railing into the freezing current.
Victoria lunged at Emma with a serrated combat knife, eyes manic with desperation. "Let go of it, you little bitch!"
Before the blade could reach Emma, Marcus’s hand clamped around Victoria’s wrist like a vise, twisting it viciously until the knife clattered into the river. He shoved Victoria back against the pier stanchion, pinning her throat with his forearm.
"Game over, Victoria," Marcus whispered, his voice like grinding stones.
Sirens echoed in the distance. Half a dozen harbor patrol cutters and police cruisers with flashing red-and-blue lights converged on the pier, sealing off every exit.
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Victoria panted against the stanchion, glaring past Marcus at Emma, who was hauling the titanium briefcase back onto the safety of the dock.
"You think this is over, Emma?" Victoria spat blood from her lip, laughing hysterically into the rain. "Open the case! Open it right now! See what your precious mother really left you!"
