Chapter 4 - The Siege of the Pier
The high-pitched screech of tearing metal and shattered glass echoed from the ground floor of the warehouse below.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Heavy automatic rifle fire ripped through the wooden floors, sending splinters and drywall dust flying through the air of the clocktower.
"They're inside!" Elena screamed, pulling Lily beneath the heavy iron worktable as dust rained down on them.
Daniel didn't panic. The grief on his face instantly vanished, replaced by an expression of cold, terrifying command. He reached beneath his leather overcoat, drawing a dark gray custom semi-automatic pistol from his shoulder holster, racking the slide with a crisp CLACK.
He grabbed the three leather ledgers and the flash drives, stuffing them securely inside a waterproof tactical satchel, and strapped it across his chest.
"Elena! Stay down under the iron frame!" Daniel yelled over the deafening roar of gunfire below. "Marco! What’s your status?!"
Static crackled on the radio. "We're pinned down in the south alley, Boss! They brought heavy caliber weapons! It’s Marcus Vance’s personal security militia! There are at least twenty heavily armed men!"
"Hold the line!" Daniel commanded. "I’m bringing the package down through the old coal chute!"
Daniel grabbed a heavy iron fire extinguisher hanging on the brick wall, pulled the pin, and smashed it against the wooden trapdoor in the corner of the clocktower floor.
The rotted wood gave way, revealing a steep, enclosed metal chute that slid all the way down to the underground coal cellars beneath the docks.
"Elena! Look at me!" Daniel said, grabbing her shoulders, his eyes locking onto hers with absolute authority. "I am going to put you and Lily into this chute. It leads straight to the subterranean barge tunnel. At the bottom of the slide is a steel door. Punch in code 1-0-1-4—Michael’s birthday. Inside is a private motorboat."
"What about you?!" Elena cried out, grabbing his lapels. "They will kill you, Daniel!"
"They want these ledgers," Daniel said, patting the satchel across his chest. "And they want me. As long as I am drawing their fire on the upper level, they won't look for you in the coal cellar."
"No! I won't lose another Cross brother!" Elena wept, holding onto his suit jacket.
Daniel reached down, gently touching three-year-old Lily’s cheek. The little girl was crying softly now, holding her one-eared rabbit tight against her chest.
"Lily," Daniel said, his voice breaking into a soft whisper. "Remember what you told me about Daddy’s shoes?"
Lily gave a small, trembling nod. "Dignity starts... with how you step forward."
"That’s right, my sweet girl," Daniel smiled through his tears, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "Now step forward with Mama. Uncle Daniel is right behind you."
Daniel guided Elena into the metal chute. Holding Lily tightly in her lap, Elena took a deep breath, looked at Daniel one last time, and slid down into the pitch-black chute, disappearing into the darkness.
The heavy oak doors at the top of the clocktower stairwell exploded into splinters.
BOOM!
A flashbang grenade went off, blinding the room in white light and deafening noise.
Three mercenary guards clad in black tactical gear burst through the smoke, their assault rifles raised, laser sights painting the walls red.
Behind them stepped Marcus Vance—a tall, grey-haired man of sixty in a long cashmere coat, holding a heavy silver revolver. Standing right beside him was Vanessa, her eyes crazed with malice, her hair wet from the rain, holding a small pistol of her own.
"Where is the girl, Daniel?!" Vanessa shrieked, pointing her gun into the smoke. "Where is that little rat?!"
Daniel stepped out from behind the heavy clock gears, standing tall, his hand resting on his pistol, his face carved from ice.
"She’s far away from you, Vanessa," Daniel said coldly.
Marcus Vance raised his silver revolver, pointing it directly at Daniel’s heart.
"Hand over Michael’s ledgers, Daniel," Marcus said in a smooth, cold voice. "Give us the evidence, and I will make your death quick. Refuse... and my men will hunt down that maid and her child, skin them alive, and dump them into the Atlantic Ocean."
Daniel slowly unclasped the tactical satchel containing the ledgers.
"You killed my brother," Daniel said, his voice dropping into a register so dark it made the mercenaries hesitate. "You put a bomb in his car, murdered him in cold blood, and stole six hundred million dollars from his legacy."
"Michael was a weak artist who threatened my life's work!" Marcus spat. "He deserved what he got! And so do you! Now drop the bag!"
Daniel held the leather satchel over the gaping iron opening of the coal chute.
"If I drop it down here," Daniel smiled grimly, "it falls fifty feet into the burning furnace of the old dock boiler."
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Vanessa screamed, taking two frantic steps forward.
In that fraction of a second when their attention shifted to the satchel, Daniel moved with blinding speed.
He threw the satchel sideways—not down the chute, but hard into the face of the lead mercenary.
THUD!
Before the guards could react, Daniel ducked behind the iron pendulum of the clocktower, drew his weapon, and fired three rapid shots.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The lead guard collapsed to the floor. The second guard’s weapon flew from his hands as a bullet shattered his wrist.
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"KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!" Marcus screamed, firing wild shots into the clockwork mechanisms as smoke and gunfire engulfed the tower.
Daniel dove toward the open coal chute, ducking under a hail of bullets, and plunged headfirst into the darkness just as the clocktower’s massive iron gears ground to a halt.
