Chapter 8 - The Price of Blood
Brennan wanted to run to Daniel. Duty demanded the Resolute. Rourke had designed the choice because he understood divided loyalties.
Price grabbed Brennan's shoulder. "Go to your brother. I'll delay the ship."
"Alone?"
"You are not the only difficult woman in the Navy."
Voss offered to guide Price through Pier Nine. Brennan took his vehicle and drove toward the safe house without lights. She found the front door hanging open and blood on the stairs.
Daniel's blood, but not much. A trail led into the woods.
He had escaped through a rear window after shooting one attacker in the leg. Brennan found him hiding beneath an overturned fishing boat, clutching Price's spare pistol.
"You came," he whispered.
"Always."
"You shouldn't have. The ship matters more."
"You are not a calculation."
They returned to Meridian as alarms erupted across the harbor. Price had triggered a hazardous-material warning, temporarily sealing Pier Nine. The Resolute could not leave, but Rourke now knew exactly who opposed him.
Brennan and Daniel entered through the old archive tunnel. At the pier, Garrett held Voss's son, Evan, inside a fuel-control room. Marcus guarded the gangway. Cole and Travis moved crates aboard the ship.
Voss stepped into the open with empty hands.
"Release my son," he called.
Rourke appeared on the Resolute's upper deck. "You were useful because fear made you obedient, Elias. Do not become brave this late in life."
Voss looked toward the shadows where Brennan waited. Then he made his first honest choice in years.
"The ledger is with Inspector Price," he lied. "Every account. Every name."
Rourke ordered Garrett to shoot him.
The shot struck Voss below the shoulder. Brennan fired out the floodlights. Daniel opened the fuel-control room from the tunnel while Price led Evan to safety. In the confusion, Brennan climbed a cargo line onto the Resolute.
She reached the container deck and hid between towering stacks. The ship's engines thundered. Despite the sealed pier, tugboats began pulling it away.
Garrett's voice came over the deck speakers.
"I know you're aboard, Commander. This time there are no cameras."
Brennan checked the body camera beneath her jacket.
"There is always a camera," she said.
May you like
Behind her, a pistol clicked.
Marcus smiled. "Not for long."
