Chapter 13 - THE WAREHOUSE
The warehouse smelled like metal and old ice.
I followed Noah’s crying through the dark.
Tessa stayed close behind me. Agent Lee moved with his weapon raised.
A light flicked on at the far end.
Noah sat in his car seat on a folding table.
Alone.
I ran.
“Wait!” Lee shouted.
Too late.
A steel gate dropped behind me, separating me from Tessa and Lee.
Grant stepped from behind a freezer unit.
He held a gun.
“You really are predictable.”
I kept my eyes on Noah.
“Let me take him.”
“Where’s the chip?”
“I brought it.”
I held up a small evidence envelope.
Grant smiled.
“Slide it over.”
I did.
He picked it up, opened it—and saw nothing but a blank memory card.
His smile disappeared.
I moved.
He fired.
The bullet hit metal beside my shoulder.
I crashed into him.
We went down hard.
Noah screamed.
Grant struck me with the gun.
White light exploded across my vision.
Then Tessa’s voice cut through the room.
“Grant!”
He looked up.
Tessa stood behind the gate holding her phone.
“I uploaded the audio an hour ago.”
Grant froze.
“To three newspapers,” she continued. “And the federal prosecutor.”
His face changed.
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
He raised the gun toward her.
I grabbed his wrist.
A second shot fired into the ceiling.
Agent Lee forced the gate open and tackled him.
I crawled to Noah.
“Daddy’s here.”
He wrapped both arms around my neck.
I cried into his hair.
Then Lee’s radio erupted.
“Pier 14 team under fire. Malcolm Vale on scene.”
Ortiz’s voice followed, breathless.
“Elliot, listen to me. Malcolm isn’t trying to escape.”
May you like
Gunfire cracked through the radio.
“He’s coming to your house.”
