Chapter 14 - The Final Settlement
Declan Carroway dragged himself backward across the splintered wood, staring in disbelief as Gabriel’s operators rappelled down the crane, safely lowering the three dock supervisors to the ground.
"You're a demon..." Declan gasped, clutching his shattered jaw. "You can't control this whole city! Someone will come for you! Sterling has friends in Washington!"
Gabriel stood over him, looking down with cold indifference.
"Julian Sterling has no friends, Declan. Men who hoard money while their workers starve die alone. Just like you."
Marco stepped up, handing Gabriel a satellite phone.
"Boss," Marco said. "The federal marshals just raided Sterling’s private island property in Vancouver. They seized his hidden ledgers. The money laundering, the human trafficking through the docks, the extortion—it’s all exposed. Hayes and the entire board of Apex Logistics were arrested twenty minutes ago."
Gabriel held the phone out to Declan. "Your brother Liam gave up the offshore accounts in exchange for a medical release to an orthopedic prison. The Carroway name is erased from the city's ports."
Declan slumped against a wooden mooring post, his spirit entirely broken. The empire they had spent four decades building had been dismantled in less than seventy-two hours.
"Take them to the harbor police precinct," Gabriel ordered his men. "Leave Declan on the commissioner’s doorstep with the shipping manifests. Let the law bury what remains of them."
Gabriel turned and walked back toward his truck. The fog was beginning to lift, revealing the dark silhouette of the city skyline across the water. For the first time in years, the towering skyscrapers didn't look like an empire of concrete predators; they looked quiet, cleansed by the rain.
Gabriel climbed into the truck and dialed a secure line.
"Dr. Evans," Gabriel said.
"Mr. Vance," the doctor's voice answered. "Elena has just been discharged. Her vitals are completely stable. She and Mia are waiting in the library for you."
"Are they safe?"
"Completely. Mia has been asking when her friend with the big coat is coming home."
May you like
A rare, genuine smile touched Gabriel Vance’s lips. "Tell her I am on my way."
He threw the truck into drive, leaving the burning wreckage of Pier 44 behind him in the rearview mirror.
