Chapter 8 - The Ashes of an Alliance
Victoria stood in the dust-filled attic, the shotgun resting casually against her hip. She wore a tailored black trench coat, her face twisted into a mask of bitter triumph.
“Surprise, darling,” Victoria purred.
Nathan didn't lower his gun. “How did you get out of FBI custody, Victoria?”
“My father’s money is very persuasive,” she smiled, stepping over the ruined door. “And when Julian told me about Elias’s little side deal over the ledger, I decided I wanted a piece of the action. Elias’s men are currently slaughtering yours downstairs.”
She racked the shotgun, aiming it directly at the spot where Lily was hiding behind the trunks.
“Give me the ledger, Nathan,” Victoria demanded. “With that book, my family can absorb Thorne’s supply lines and completely obliterate yours.”
“You think I’ll hand you the keys to my empire?” Nathan sneered.
“I think you’ll hand me whatever I want,” Victoria countered, her eyes flashing toward the trunks. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to blow a hole through your precious little deaf maid.”
Nathan’s grip on his pistol tightened. He looked at Victoria, analyzing the angles, calculating the odds of putting a bullet between her eyes before she could pull the shotgun trigger.
But Lily didn't wait to be rescued.
She remembered the photograph she had found in the coat—the one showing Victoria and Elias meeting three years ago. Victoria hadn't just discovered this plot tonight. She had been orchestrating it from the beginning.
Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out the small, heavy silver watch that had belonged to Julian.
Without making a sound, Lily threw the gold watch as hard as she could toward the dusty attic window behind Victoria.
The heavy metal shattered the glass with a loud, violent crash.
Victoria flinched, instinctively whipping the shotgun toward the sudden noise.
It was only a fraction of a second, but it was all Nathan needed.
He didn't shoot to kill. He shot to disarm.
The bullet shattered the wooden stock of Victoria’s shotgun, tearing the weapon from her hands. Victoria screamed, stumbling backward into the hallway.
Nathan lunged forward, grabbing Victoria by the lapels of her trench coat and slamming her hard against the brick wall.
“It’s over, Victoria,” Nathan roared, pressing his pistol under her chin. “Call off your men!”
But Victoria just laughed, a manic, desperate sound. “I don't control them, Nathan! Elias does! And he’s coming up the stairs right now!”
Heavy footsteps echoed from the stairwell.
Nathan shoved Victoria to the ground, spinning around to face the doorway. He pushed Lily back into the corner, shielding her entirely with his body.
A tall man with a jagged scar down his neck stepped into the light. Elias Thorne.
He held an assault rifle, aimed directly at Nathan’s chest.
“Drop it, Blackwood,” Elias commanded, his voice like grinding stone.
Nathan hesitated. If he dropped the gun, they were dead. If he fired, Elias would shred them both.
“I said drop it!” Elias shouted, stepping closer.
Suddenly, a loud, piercing alarm cut through the noise of the gunfight below. Red and blue police lights flooded through the broken attic window, illuminating the dust in the air. Sirens wailed from every direction, echoing off the brick walls of the alley.
Elias froze, glancing toward the window.
“You called the cops?” Elias snarled.
“No,” Lily spoke up, her voice surprisingly steady. She stepped out from behind Nathan, holding her cell phone. The screen displayed an active 911 call.
“I called them twenty minutes ago,” Lily said, watching Elias’s lips to ensure he heard her. “When we landed. I told them the Thorne syndicate was planning an ambush at this address.”
Elias’s face contorted in fury. He raised his rifle toward Lily.
But a gunshot rang out from the stairwell behind him.
Elias gasped, dropping his rifle, and fell forward onto the attic floor.
Standing in the stairwell, holding a smoking pistol, was Marcus, Nathan’s head of security. He was bleeding from a graze on his shoulder, but he was alive.
“SWAT is breaching the front doors, boss,” Marcus panted. “We need to go out the fire escape. Now.”
Nathan looked down at Victoria, who was cowering against the wall, realizing her father’s money couldn't buy her out of an active federal raid.
“Leave her,” Nathan said coldly. “Let her rot.”
Nathan grabbed Lily’s hand, pulling her toward the rusted iron fire escape outside the shattered window.
They climbed down through the cold Chicago air, the sounds of police breaching the building echoing behind them.
When they reached the alley, Nathan pulled Lily into the shadows behind a dumpster, waiting for Marcus to pull up in the armored SUV.
Lily was shaking uncontrollably, the adrenaline finally crashing. She couldn't hear the sirens properly. Everything was muffled, distant, and terrifying.
Nathan turned her toward him. He dropped his gun into his holster and placed both of his hands gently on her cheeks.
He didn't speak. He didn't need her to read his lips.
He slowly, deliberately raised his hands and signed the words she had taught his daughter.
YOU ARE SAFE.
May you like
Lily stared at him, tears finally breaking free.
Nathan pulled her tightly into his chest, burying his face in her hair. “I’ve got you,” he whispered against her good ear. “It’s over.”
