Chapter 12 - The Edge of the Abyss
The remaining two cartel operatives turned, spraying automatic fire across the tunnel walls. Julian dove, tackling Emma behind a concrete pillar just as concrete dust and ricochets filled the air.
""Cover me!"" Julian shouted.
Without waiting, he broke cover, firing with deadly precision. One shot struck the second gunman through the shoulder, sending him tumbling into the rushing current. The final man, a burly commander with a scarred throat, grabbed Leo, holding the crying boy by his jacket over the churning waters of the main drainage sluice—a twenty-foot drop into the raging Hudson River below.
""Drop your weapons!"" the commander yelled in heavily accented English. ""One more step and the kid drowns!""
Julian froze, raising his empty hands. Emma slowly stepped out from behind the pillar, her gun lowered to the ground, her face pale as death.
""Look at me,"" Emma said, keeping her voice unnervingly calm, locking eyes with the commander. ""Your dispute was with Arthur Vance. He’s dead. Victoria is in federal custody. The money you want is in the Swiss accounts. I have the encryption keys. The boy is useless to you.""
The commander sneered. ""The boy is leverage to make sure the Vance shipping lanes stay open.""
""The shipping lanes are compromised!"" Julian yelled, stepping forward deliberately, drawing the man's attention. ""The feds raided the docks an hour ago! If you kill him, you leave this tunnel with nothing. Let the boy go, and I'll give you the private jet waiting at Teterboro and the offshore bonds.""
The commander hesitated, his eyes darting between Julian and Emma. For a fraction of a second, his grip on Leo's jacket loosened.
Leo, seeing his chance, sank his small teeth savagely into the man's wrist.
May you like
The commander roared in pain, his hand flinching back. Leo slipped from his grasp, tumbling toward the dark, rushing abyss.
""Leo!"" Emma screamed, lunging forward without a single thought for her own life, leaping straight off the concrete ledge into the darkness below.
