Chapter 7 - Pier 42
The storm transformed the Hudson River into a churning monster of black waves. Pier 42 sat forgotten at the edge of the industrial district, surrounded by rusted shipping containers and dilapidated cranes.
Julian parked the smoking Maybach deep inside warehouse nine. Standing beneath a single swinging halogen light was Jack Morales, former chief of internal affairs and the man Burke had framed and disgraced five years earlier.
Jack stood with a battered shotgun resting against his thigh, his weathered face etched with deep scars. He looked at Lois, his eyes softening with genuine sorrow. ""You look just like your mother, Lois. Same stubborn chin.""
""You knew my mother?"" Lois asked, stepping out of the car, her bruises standing out sharply against the yellow halogen glow.
""I knew both your parents,"" Jack said gruffly. ""Your father didn't die in an industrial fire, kid. Christian Burke and Eleanor Thorne locked him inside that warehouse because he refused to falsify organ donor registries for their overseas clients.""
Julian stepped forward, the flash drive held tightly between his fingers. ""Then why is his name on the offshore trust?""
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""Because Burke needed a dead man to take the fall if the feds ever knocked,"" Jack answered, spitting on the concrete. ""Burke’s father is the sitting State Attorney General. He holds the pen, and Burke holds the scalpel.""
Suddenly, the warehouse doors were blown off their hinges by an explosive charge. Shockwaves threw all three of them to the floor as flashbangs illuminated the cavernous space in blinding white light.
