Chapter 14 - Ash and Salt
Julian surged up the stairs, bypassing the warning entirely, his hands catching Sarah’s trembling shoulders to steady her. ""Where is the girl, Sarah? Where did they take her?""
""They... they took her to the docks,"" Sarah gasped, clutching Julian’s damp wool lapels with desperate, bruising strength. ""A transport boat. A foreign-flagged freighter anchored three miles outside state waters. They said if I called the police, they’d throw the carrier into the ocean.""
""Marcus!"" Julian roared over his shoulder, his command cutting through the roaring gale. ""Get the harbor patrol and deploy the offshore interceptor from our Bridgeport terminal. Now!""
Marcus was already running back to the SUV, his phone pressed violently to his ear, shouting coordinates into the encrypted network.
Julian looked down into Sarah’s eyes. Despite the terror and exhaustion, he recognized the fierce, primal fire of a mother who had endured hell to keep a child breathing. ""Did they hurt you?""
""I don't care about me!"" she screamed, shoving him toward the driveway. ""Her name is Clara—no, I named her Maya, after the picture of your daughter Elena kept in her locket! You have to save her, Julian! Arthur’s second-in-command, the man named Keller, he has her in an industrial lockbox on the stern!""
Julian’s chest seized at the name. Maya. Elena had named their first child Maya; Sarah had known that, holding onto that thread of family through months of hiding in the damp cold of coastal shacks.
May you like
""She’s coming home,"" Julian said, the promise absolute, etched in iron and blood. ""Get in the car with Marcus. You're under my protection now.""
Without waiting for her reply, Julian sprinted toward the secondary security vehicle, ripping open the driver's door and hauling himself behind the wheel. The engine roared to life with an eight-cylinder growl, the tires spinning furiously against the wet gravel before catching the asphalt, launching the vehicle toward the harbor lights cutting through the tempest.
