Chapter 6 - The Night Rafe Chose a Side
The first bullet shattered the rear window.
Rafe pulled Mara down.
Nico swerved.
Elena screamed from the front passenger seat.
"Keep driving!" Rafe shouted.
Another shot hit the trunk.
Briggs's vehicle accelerated behind them.
Nico cut hard left through the cemetery access road.
Mara kept one hand pressed over Rafe's surgical site.
"You're bleeding."
"I'm fine."
"Stop saying that."
"Bad timing?"
"The worst."
He almost smiled.
Then another shot came.
Briggs rammed the attacking vehicle.
Metal screamed.
Nico reached the main road.
The pursuing car disappeared behind them.
Mara looked at Rafe's shirt.
Blood spread slowly.
"Hospital."
"No."
"Rafe."
"We get the drive secure first."
"I don't care about the drive if you're dead."
His eyes met hers.
For a second neither spoke.
Then he told Nico, "Hospital."
Mara blinked.
"That easy?"
"Apparently I'm trainable."
At the hospital, Ethan repaired two reopened stitches.
Mara remained beside Rafe.
Again.
"You keep ending up in my care," she said.
"You keep putting your hands on me."
"Medically."
"Disappointing."
She looked at him.
He smiled.
For the first time, Mara laughed.
It came unexpectedly.
Small.
Tired.
Real.
Rafe watched her.
"That's better."
"What?"
"You laughing."
"Don't get used to it."
"Too late."
The softness disappeared when Briggs entered.
"We recovered the audio."
Mara sat straighter.
"Daniel's video?"
"Yes."
Briggs placed a tablet on the bed.
He played the final seconds.
Daniel turned toward the door.
Fear crossed his face.
Then the restored audio came through.
"Reeves."
Mara closed her eyes.
Senator Malcolm Reeves.
Briggs paused the video.
"There's more."
Another file showed Reeves meeting Voss overseas.
Another contained financial transfers.
Another showed Rafe's father discussing the elimination of "the Bennett problem."
Mara's stomach twisted.
"That's enough."
Rafe watched her.
"We can stop."
"No."
She looked at him.
"We finish it."
Federal agents arrived before sunrise.
Not local.
A special task force led by Assistant Director Claire Morgan.
Briggs had worked with her for years.
Morgan reviewed Daniel's files.
"This is enough to open everything."
Rafe asked, "Enough to hold Reeves?"
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because defense attorneys will argue the files were manipulated."
Mara stared.
"There's video."
"We need authentication."
"How?"
"Original storage source or a living witness tied directly to the transactions."
Rafe said, "Voss."
Morgan nodded.
"If we find him."
Nico entered.
"We don't have to."
He turned a phone around.
A message from Voss.
COME ALONE, RAFE.
A location followed.
Old Calder shipping terminal.
Midnight.
Mara said, "No."
Rafe looked at her.
"He's offering himself."
"He's offering a trap."
"Same difference if we prepare."
Morgan stepped forward.
"We can wire you."
Mara stared at her.
"He's recovering from surgery."
Rafe said, "I noticed."
"You're not going alone."
"Mara."
"No."
Morgan interrupted.
"Actually, she may help."
Rafe frowned.
"How?"
"Voss knows Mara wants answers. He may talk more if she's there."
Rafe's expression darkened.
"Absolutely not."
Mara raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?"
"No."
"You don't get to tell me what to do."
"I can try."
"And I can ignore you."
Morgan looked between them.
"I'll give you two a moment."
She left.
Rafe sat forward.
"You don't understand Voss."
"I understand him better than you think."
"He'll use Daniel against you."
"Then let him."
"He'll hurt you."
"People have tried."
Rafe's jaw tightened.
"Mara."
She moved closer.
"Why are you so determined to protect everyone except yourself?"
He stared at her.
The question landed.
"Elena. Me. Daniel. Even people you barely know. But you treat your own life like it's disposable."
Rafe looked away.
"My life has cost other people too much."
"That's not the same as being worth nothing."
He said nothing.
Mara continued.
"Daniel trusted you."
"Daniel died."
"That wasn't your choice."
"I failed him."
"And if you walk into Voss's trap alone, you'll fail him again."
Rafe's eyes returned to hers.
"How?"
"Because he didn't die so you could become another body Voss stepped over."
Silence.
Finally, Rafe nodded.
"Together."
At midnight, they entered the old shipping terminal.
Federal teams surrounded the property.
Rafe wore a wire.
So did Mara.
Voss waited beneath a hanging industrial light.
Alone.
Apparently.
"Touching," he said. "You brought the nurse."
Mara stood beside Rafe.
"You knew I'd come."
"I knew curiosity would."
"Why Daniel?"
Voss smiled.
"Straight to it."
"Why?"
"Because your brother believed evidence mattered."
"It does."
"No. Power matters."
Rafe said, "That's what my father thought."
"And your father was correct."
"He's dead."
Voss shrugged.
"Everyone dies."
Mara's fists tightened.
Rafe noticed.
His hand brushed hers.
A warning.
Stay calm.
Voss saw it.
"Interesting."
"What?"
"The great Rafe Calder has discovered tenderness."
Rafe's voice remained flat.
"Don't confuse restraint with weakness."
Voss laughed.
"Your father used to say exactly that."
Rafe's face hardened.
"You don't get to speak for him."
"I don't need to. I know what he wanted."
"Northpoint."
"Control."
Voss stepped closer.
"Your father understood that governments change, markets collapse, politicians lie. But fear? Fear is stable."
Mara said, "Daniel wasn't afraid of you."
Voss's smile vanished.
"No."
That was the first honest thing he had said.
"He embarrassed you," Mara continued.
"He stole from us."
"He exposed you."
"He was naïve."
"He beat you."
Voss's eyes sharpened.
Mara knew she had him.
"That's why you still talk about him seven years later."
Voss stepped closer.
Rafe moved slightly in front of her.
Voss noticed.
Then laughed.
"She doesn't need protection, Rafe. You should know that by now."
Mara said, "Who killed Daniel?"
Voss stared at her.
Then answered.
"Reeves gave the order."
Behind the terminal walls, federal agents heard every word.
Mara's heart pounded.
"Say it again."
Voss smiled.
"Senator Malcolm Reeves ordered Daniel Bennett killed because Daniel had proof connecting Reeves to Northpoint."
Rafe said, "And my father?"
"Approved it."
Mara swallowed.
"Julian?"
"Provided the route."
"Elena?"
"Accidental source."
"Vivian?"
"Useful coward."
Voss took another step.
"And you, Rafe?"
Rafe said nothing.
"You were supposed to die with Daniel."
Rafe's expression changed.
Mara looked at him.
"What?"
Voss smiled.
"Daniel's extraction wasn't only for Daniel."
Rafe stared.
Voss continued.
"Your father planned to bring you to the warehouse under the pretense of meeting him."
"Why?"
"Because killing his son and the whistleblower together solved two problems."
Mara looked at Rafe.
"Daniel warned you."
"Yes."
"That's how he saved you."
Rafe nodded.
Voss smiled.
"And that is why Daniel died alone."
Something in Rafe snapped.
He moved.
Mara caught his arm.
"Don't."
Voss laughed.
"There he is."
Then the lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Federal agents shouted.
Mara dropped behind a steel barrier.
Rafe covered her.
A shot struck nearby.
Then another.
Emergency lights flashed.
Mara saw Voss running.
Rafe started after him.
She grabbed him.
"Your stitches!"
"He gets away, Reeves walks."
Briggs appeared.
"Go! We've got cover!"
Rafe and Mara ran after Voss through the warehouse.
He reached a rear loading bay.
A car waited.
Then headlights flared.
Another vehicle blocked the exit.
Voss stopped.
The driver's door opened.
Elena stepped out.
Rafe shouted, "Elena!"
She held Daniel's old file in one hand.
Voss raised his gun.
Mara saw it.
"Down!"
A shot cracked.
Elena fell.
May you like
Rafe roared her name.
And Mara saw blood spreading beneath Elena's body.
