Chapter 6 - The Night Grant Chose a Side
Marina nearly dropped the phone.
Luca caught it.
“Marcus.”
The caller laughed.
“You finally remember me.”
Emma watched Luca change.
The affectionate uncle vanished.
The brother vanished.
Something colder remained.
“Where’s Daniel?”
“Alive.”
“Let me hear him.”
A muffled sound.
Then Daniel’s voice.
“Marina, don’t—”
The line cut.
Marina covered her face.
Her children were upstairs with Luca’s security team, unaware their father had been taken.
Emma’s stomach tightened.
She sat.
Luca paced once.
Marcus called again.
This time Luca answered on speaker.
“Location.”
“Pier 46. Midnight.”
“You’ll get a copy.”
“No.”
“The original stays with me.”
“Then Daniel stays with me.”
Luca’s jaw flexed.
Emma spoke before anyone could stop her.
“You want the ledger because of David Hart.”
Silence.
Marcus said, “Who is this?”
“His daughter.”
Luca turned sharply.
Marcus laughed softly.
“Well.”
Emma’s skin crawled.
“So Carlo really did keep you alive.”
“What did my father find?”
“Emma,” Luca warned.
She ignored him.
Marcus answered.
“He found numbers.”
“What numbers?”
“The kind that made good men stupid.”
“Did you kill him?”
Marina whispered, “Emma.”
Marcus took his time.
“Your father should have minded his own business.”
Emma closed her eyes.
There it was.
Not a confession.
Close enough.
“Did Grant know?”
“Eventually.”
Her heart sank further.
“How long?”
“Long enough.”
Marcus disconnected.
Emma sat perfectly still.
Luca crouched in front of her.
“You’re not going anywhere tonight.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
“Marcus wants the ledger.”
“He wants me too.”
“Exactly.”
“Which means he’ll expect me.”
Luca stood.
“You are thirty-two weeks pregnant, were hospitalized less than twenty-four hours ago, and someone may have tampered with your medication. You’re not bait.”
Emma looked at him.
“I’m not bait.”
“Then what?”
“The person he underestimated.”
Vanessa spoke from the dining table.
“She’s right.”
Luca turned.
Vanessa held Carlo’s notebook.
“Marcus thinks this ledger can destroy him.”
“It can.”
“But he doesn’t know I made digital copies.”
Luca stared.
“You copied the whole thing?”
“This afternoon.”
Emma almost smiled.
Vanessa shrugged.
“I finally did something useful.”
The plan took forty minutes.
Police were involved.
Federal agents arrived after investigators connected Harbor Shield payments to interstate financial crimes.
Luca disliked every part of official involvement.
Emma told him she did not care.
“If we do this your way, someone gets hurt.”
His expression darkened.
“You assume you know my way.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you know rumors.”
“Good. You told me to wait for facts.”
He stared at her.
Then nodded once.
Midnight approached.
Pier 46 was nearly empty.
Emma remained in an armored SUV two blocks away despite arguing for something closer.
Luca went to the exchange with a duplicate ledger.
Vanessa stayed with Emma.
Federal agents watched from nearby vehicles.
Marina remained home with the children.
At 11:58, Emma’s phone rang.
Grant.
He was supposed to be in police custody.
She answered.
“Where are you?”
“Listen to me.”
Noise behind him.
A car engine.
“Did you escape?”
“No. They released me pending—”
“Released you?”
“Not important.”
“Very important.”
“Marcus changed the location.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
“He knows about the police.”
Vanessa leaned closer.
Emma put the call on speaker.
Grant continued.
“He has Daniel at the old Rainier warehouse.”
Emma looked at Vanessa.
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because Marcus called me.”
“Why?”
“To tell me to bring you.”
Silence.
Grant’s voice broke.
“I’m not doing it.”
Emma looked out the dark window.
“Where are you?”
“Driving to the warehouse.”
“Why?”
“To get Daniel.”
Vanessa whispered, “It’s a trap.”
Grant heard.
“I know.”
Emma’s chest tightened.
“Then don’t go.”
“I owe you more than I can ever repay.”
“This won’t repay it.”
“I know.”
The line crackled.
Grant continued.
“I gave Marcus information about Romano’s companies because I wanted the Rainier deal. Then he showed me records about your father.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Three years.”
Pain went through her.
Not physical.
Worse.
Three years.
He had kissed her.
Slept beside her.
Built a nursery.
And hidden the truth about her father.
“Why?”
“I was afraid if you learned who Marcus was, you’d start asking questions.”
“So you protected yourself.”
“Yes.”
For once, Grant did not soften it.
Emma swallowed.
“What about the medication?”
“I knew Marcus had access to the house.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I never asked him to hurt you.”
“Did you know he might?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Emma closed her eyes.
There would never be a marriage after this.
Some truths did not leave room for repair.
Grant whispered, “I’m sorry.”
She opened her eyes.
“Where exactly is Daniel?”
“Warehouse Three.”
Vanessa was already typing a message to Luca.
Grant said, “Marcus expects Luca at the pier. That gives me time.”
“You’re not a hero, Grant.”
“I know.”
“Then stop trying to die like one.”
He laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“I’m just trying to do one thing that isn’t for me.”
The call ended.
Luca returned to the SUV within minutes.
His anger filled the vehicle.
“He left police custody because his attorney arranged bail.”
Emma shook her head.
“He’s going to the warehouse.”
“So are we.”
“You said I wasn’t going anywhere.”
“I’ve reconsidered.”
Vanessa raised her eyebrows.
Emma almost smiled despite everything.
The warehouse sat near the industrial waterfront Grant had stolen through fraud.
Irony apparently had no subtlety.
Police surrounded the area quietly.
Luca entered through a side door with two agents.
Emma remained in the command vehicle.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Then gunshots.
Emma’s entire body went cold.
Vanessa grabbed her hand.
Radio voices exploded.
“Officer down.”
“Suspect moving east.”
“Hostage located.”
“Another male inside.”
Emma stared toward the warehouse.
“Grant.”
Then someone opened the command vehicle’s rear door.
Emma turned.
Marcus Venn stood outside.
Gray hair.
Black raincoat.
Gun in hand.
Vanessa screamed.
Marcus climbed inside and shut the door.
“So much security,” he said, “and everyone watches the dangerous man instead of the pregnant woman.”
Emma forced herself not to look at the gun.
Marcus smiled.
“You look like your father.”
She said nothing.
“David made the same mistake. Thought truth protected people.”
Emma placed one hand over her belly.
Marcus noticed.
“Don’t worry. I don’t hurt children.”
“You poisoned me.”
“Not enough to hurt the baby.”
“You expected me to die.”
“I expected complications.”
Vanessa whispered, “You’re insane.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You’re the reason any of this exists.”
He held out his hand.
“The real ledger.”
Vanessa laughed shakily.
“You think we brought it?”
Marcus pointed the gun at Emma.
Vanessa stopped laughing.
“Give it to me.”
Emma said, “It doesn’t matter.”
Marcus looked at her.
“There are copies.”
His smile disappeared.
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
That was a lie.
But a useful one.
Marcus grabbed Emma’s wrist.
“Get out.”
Vanessa moved.
He aimed at her.
“Stay.”
Emma climbed carefully from the SUV.
Rain began falling.
Again.
Of course it did.
Marcus forced her toward the warehouse.
Every step felt like the night outside the hotel.
Wet pavement.
Fear.
Grant absent when she needed him.
Except this time Emma was not waiting for someone to save her.
She watched reflections.
Counted doors.
Listened.
Marcus pushed her through a side entrance.
Daniel sat against a wall, hands bound.
Alive.
Grant lay several feet away.
Blood stained his shoulder.
He looked up.
“Emma?”
Marcus shoved her forward.
Grant’s face twisted.
“No.”
Luca appeared on the catwalk above.
His gun was aimed downward.
Marcus pulled Emma against him.
“Drop it.”
Luca’s expression became perfectly still.
“Let her go.”
Grant moved.
Marcus didn’t see him.
Emma did.
Grant reached slowly toward a metal pipe.
Marcus tightened his arm around Emma.
“The Romano family destroyed David Hart.”
Emma looked at Luca.
Luca said nothing.
Marcus continued.
“His death belongs to them.”
“No,” Emma said.
Marcus laughed.
“You weren’t there.”
“My father found you stealing.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
Emma continued.
“You killed him because he wouldn’t stay quiet.”
“Emma,” Luca said carefully.
She understood.
Keep him talking.
Grant’s fingers closed around the pipe.
Emma kept going.
“You killed Carlo too.”
Marcus smiled.
“Carlo had a weak heart.”
“You made sure of it.”
Marcus leaned near her ear.
“Old men die.”
Grant stood.
Emma saw Luca’s eyes shift.
Marcus followed his gaze.
Too late.
Grant swung the pipe.
Marcus turned and fired.
The shot exploded through the warehouse.
Grant fell.
Luca fired once.
Marcus collapsed.
Emma screamed.
Agents rushed in.
Daniel shouted.
Grant lay on the concrete.
Blood spread beneath him.
Emma dropped beside him.
“You idiot.”
Grant coughed.
“Fair.”
“You weren’t supposed to die.”
“Still not planning to.”
Paramedics arrived.
Luca pulled Emma back so they could work.
She shook violently.
He put his coat around her.
Marcus was alive.
Wounded.
In custody.
Daniel was alive.
Grant was alive.
For the moment.
An agent picked up Marcus’s dropped phone.
The screen was unlocked.
A message had arrived seconds before the shooting.
The agent read it.
Then looked at Luca.
“You need to see this.”
Luca took the phone.
Emma watched his expression change.
“What?”
He showed her.
A single photograph.
Grant and Marcus.
Not from months earlier.
From yesterday morning.
May you like
Below it was a message from an unknown sender.
YOU BOTH FAILED. I’LL FINISH IT MYSELF.
