Chapter 5 - The High Tide
In the suffocating darkness of the Vincenzo's cargo hold, the red numbers on the bomb timer ticked down relentlessly: 09:14... 09:13...
Dominic didn't panic. His training as a soldier and a mafia boss kicked in. "Get the bomb squad specialist up here now!" he roared into his comms.
"Sir, the storm is blocking the signal, and the ship's internal jamming system has activated!" a voice cracked back.
Dominic pulled out his tactical knife and began unscrewing the faceplate of the detonator himself. His hands were steady, but sweat beaded on his forehead. This wasn't just a bomb; it was a sophisticated dual-frequency trap. If he cut the wrong wire, it would trigger a secondary charge.
Meanwhile, in Milan, the situation was equally dire.
"Marcus, we need to get these doors open!" Elena shouted over the blaring alarm.
"Stand back, Mrs. Moretti!" Marcus yelled, placing a small breaching charge on the lock mechanism of the heavy steel doors. BOOM. The lock shattered, but the heavy steel doors only budged an inch. Through the gap, Elena could see Lucian’s mercenaries advancing down the hallway, weapons drawn.
"Elena, listen to me," Lucian’s voice purred through the speakers. "Give me the decryption key, and I will let you live. You can go back to your quiet little life, and Dominic can keep his broken shipping company. I only want the crown."
"You don't know Dominic," Elena yelled back, her fingers furiously typing on her laptop, continuing the data upload despite the chaos. "He doesn't give up. And neither do I!"
The upload bar on her laptop read: 78%... 82%...
In the cargo hold of the Vincenzo, Dominic stared at the tangled wires. He remembered a detail from the Lucian dossier—Lucian’s training was military-grade, specifically Soviet-era demolition techniques. Soviet bombs of that era used the blue line as a ground, not the black.
With three minutes left on the clock, Dominic took a gamble. He snipped the blue wire.
The timer stopped at 02:14. The lights on the detonator turned green.
"Bomb defused!" Dominic breathed into his comms. "Secure the ship. We’re heading to Milan. Now!"
In the Milan bank, Marcus was hit in the shoulder by a ricocheting bullet. He collapsed, still firing his weapon to keep the mercenaries at bay. Elena saw the upload reach 100%.
"I've got it!" she screamed.
Suddenly, the steel doors were blown completely off their hinges from the outside. Dominic charged through the smoke, his assault rifle roaring. He neutralized the remaining mercenaries in seconds, kneeling beside Elena and pulling her into a fierce, protective embrace.
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"Are you okay?" he gasped, checking her for injuries.
"I’m fine," she breathed, holding up the flash drive. "We have the data. Lucian’s financial empire is dead. But Dominic... he’s already moving. He knows he lost the financial war. He’s going after the kids."
