Chapter 8 - Midnight at Pier 46)
At 11:58 p.m., a black sedan approached Pier 46.
Claire was not inside.
Marcus was.
The silver device inside his jacket was fake.
Police and federal agents were positioned beyond sight after Rachel contacted an investigator she trusted personally.
Claire watched remotely from a secure office.
Linda paced.
Evan stared at the live feed.
A van appeared.
Two men exited.
Then Grant.
Alive.
His hands were tied.
Claire leaned toward the monitor.
The taller captor searched Marcus.
“Where is she?”
Marcus said, “She changed the deal.”
The man struck him.
Evan swore.
Then Grant shouted, “Don’t give them anything!”
The taller man turned.
“You’ve become brave.”
Grant spat blood.
“I’ve become tired.”
Claire had never seen her father like that.
Then another vehicle entered.
Everyone on the pier turned.
A gray SUV.
The door opened.
Daniel Reeves stepped out.
Claire stood.
“Daniel.”
Rachel whispered, “What is he doing?”
Daniel raised both hands.
“You wanted the key.”
The captor pointed a weapon at him.
“You should’ve stayed dead.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“So should several people here.”
Grant stared at him.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Eleven years stood between them.
Then Grant said, “I’m sorry.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You’re about a decade late.”
The captor demanded the key.
Daniel reached inside his coat.
Federal agents moved.
Everything exploded at once.
Shouting.
Running.
A gunshot.
Claire lost the camera feed.
“No!”
The screen returned.
Grant was on the ground.
Marcus had tackled one captor.
Daniel had disappeared behind the van.
Agents flooded the pier.
Three minutes later, both captors were arrested.
Grant survived.
Daniel survived.
Marcus had a fractured wrist.
But the operation produced an unexpected problem.
The captors weren’t criminals hired by Grant’s old associates.
One was a private intelligence contractor.
The other had previously worked for a federal agency.
Someone with resources had sent them.
And both refused to identify their employer.
At 2:13 a.m., Claire finally saw Daniel in person.
He entered the secure room slowly.
Older than she remembered.
More tired.
But unmistakably Daniel.
Claire stared.
Then slapped him.
Everyone froze.
Daniel touched his cheek.
“I probably deserved that.”
Claire hugged him.
Hard.
For several seconds she was seventeen again.
Then she stepped away.
“You don’t get to disappear again.”
“I’ll try not to.”
Grant entered behind him under federal escort.
Claire’s expression changed.
Grant looked at his daughter.
“I need to explain.”
“Yes.”
“Not here.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“That line still works for you?”
Grant ignored him.
“Claire, the people behind this aren’t finished.”
“Who are they?”
Grant looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked back.
Finally Grant said:
“The Concord Group.”
Rachel frowned.
“What is that?”
Daniel answered.
“The reason I disappeared.”
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Grant added:
“And the reason Claire was never supposed to learn what she inherited.”
