Chapter 5 - THE CROSSFIRE
The Brooklyn Navy Yard was swallowed by a thick, suffocating fog at midnight. The air smelled of salt, rust, and impending violence.
Alessandro had refused to let Cassidy stay at the office. "If Vane realizes he's been played, he will send men for you. You stay by my side," he had ordered. Now, she was sitting in the back of a heavily armored SUV, watching through the bulletproof glass as Alessandro and his men positioned themselves around the crumbling docks.
Sterling, visibly trembling, stood under a flickering halogen streetlamp, clutching a silver briefcase containing the flash drive.
Two black Cadillac Escalades rolled to a stop fifty yards away. The doors opened, and heavily armed men stepped out. From the center of the formation emerged Harrison Vane. He was older, silver-haired, with the smug confidence of a man born into old money.
Vane approached Sterling. The exchange of words was lost to the wind, but Cassidy watched as Sterling handed over the briefcase. Vane opened it, retrieved the drive, and smirked. He handed a duffel bag to Sterling.
Then, Vane nodded to one of his men.
The man raised a suppressed pistol and shot Sterling twice in the chest.
Cassidy screamed, clapping her hands over her mouth. Inside the SUV, the sound was muffled, but the horror was absolute. Sterling crumpled to the wet pavement.
"Move!" Alessandro's voice crackled over the radio.
Gunfire erupted. Vane's men, expecting an ambush from Sterling's non-existent backup, found themselves surrounded by Duca's elite enforcers. Alessandro moved with terrifying efficiency, a phantom in the fog, pulling his weapon and firing with calculated precision.
Vane scrambled back into his Escalade, screaming at his driver. The tires squealed against the asphalt as the massive vehicle tore out of the shipyard, leaving his men behind to face the wrath of the Duca family.
Alessandro wrenched open the door of the SUV and threw himself inside, breathing heavily. "Drive!" he roared at the chauffeur.
As they sped away into the night, Cassidy was shaking violently. She had grown up poor, she had faced eviction, but she had never seen a man murdered in front of her.
Alessandro noticed her trembling. He holstered his weapon, moved across the wide leather seat, and pulled her into his arms. It was a shocking gesture of comfort from a man made of ice.
"Look at me, Cassidy," he commanded gently, tilting her chin up. "You are safe. I swear on my life, you are safe."
Tears pricked her eyes, but she swallowed them down. "He killed him... Vane just killed him."
"Vane is a dead man walking," Alessandro promised, his thumb brushing a stray tear from her cheek. "Did the Trojan work?"
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Cassidy looked down at her glowing laptop screen on the seat next to her. A progress bar was flashing green. Data transfer 45%... 60%... 100% Complete.
"We have him," she whispered.
