Chapter 13 - THE COLD CALCULATIONS OF SURVIVAL IN THE HEART OF THE MILL
Inside the mill,
the rhythm of life had become a series of timed tasks.
Savannah fed Maya,
then worked with Julian on the data,
then tried to sleep for an hour before the baby woke again.
The space was small,
enclosed by the humming servers and the flickering light of the monitors.
She felt like she was living in a submarine,
submerged in a sea of secrets.
Julian was a magician with a keyboard,
weaving through the city's infrastructure like a ghost.
He had tapped into the private cameras of the elite,
watching the very men who had once dined at Savannah’s table.
"Look at this,"
Julian said,
pulling up a feed from a high-end restaurant.
Savannah saw the Moretti brothers sitting in a corner booth,
their faces grim.
"They're talking about the power vacuum,"
Julian explained.
"They think Roman is finished."
"They're planning a move on the docks."
"Let them,"
Savannah said,
watching the grainy image.
"The more chaos they cause,
the more Roman has to spread his resources."
"He can't fight a war on two fronts."
She looked at her own work,
a document that detailed Roman’s involvement in a human trafficking ring through the port.
It was the "nuclear option,"
the file that would not only destroy Roman but would bring down half the city’s power structure.
She hesitated,
her finger hovering over the send key.
If she released this,
there would be no going back.
The city would explode in a scandal that would last for years.
Roman would go to prison for the rest of his life,
but so would many other men,
men who had families,
men who might be innocent of this specific crime but were part of the system.
"You're thinking about the collateral damage,"
Julian said softly,
not looking away from his screen.
"I'm thinking about Maya,"
Savannah replied.
"If I release this,
she'll grow up as the daughter of a monster who was brought down by her mother."
"She'll never have a normal life."
"She doesn't have a normal life now,"
Julian pointed out.
"She's living in a basement while her father hunts her."
"True,"
Savannah sighed.
"But is this justice,
or is this revenge?"
"Does it matter?"
Julian asked.
"In this city,
they're often the same thing."
Maya started to cry,
a small,
fragile sound in the vast room.
Savannah picked her up,
rocking her gently.
The baby’s skin was soft,
her eyes wide and curious.
She didn't know about the war,
about the files,
or about the man who was her father.
She only knew the warmth of her mother's arms.
Savannah looked at the screen again.
The file was ready.
The recipients were already loaded:
The New York Times,
The FBI,
and the State Attorney.
One click and the world would change.
"Wait,"
Savannah said.
"I want to see him first."
Julian turned around,
his eyes wide with shock.
"You want to see Roman?"
"Are you insane?"
"I want to see the look on his face when he realizes he's lost,"
she said,
her voice cold and steady.
"I want him to know it was me."
"Savannah,
that's a death wish."
"He'll kill you before you can say a word."
"No,"
she said.
"He won't."
"Because I'm going to tell him exactly what I've sent,
and I'm going to tell him that if anything happens to me,"
"the third set of files goes to the people he fears the most."
"The ones who aren't bound by the law."
She looked at the reinforced door.
She had spent years being the woman who stayed behind,
the woman who waited for him to come home.
Now,
she was the one who was going to dictate the terms of their meeting.
May you like
She wasn't running anymore.
She was walking right into the center of the storm.
