Chapter 6 - WATERFRONT RECKONING
Adrian told Claire to meet him at the old shipyard, a neutral zone away from the hotel's cameras. It was a mistake.
The moment Claire arrived under the flickering amber streetlights, three black SUVs boxed her in. Briggs, his face bleeding from the glass, stepped out, holding a steel baton. Vanessa stepped out of the second car, wrapped in a trench coat, a cold, triumphant smile on her face.
"Did you really think you could steal from us?" Vanessa sneered. "My father built this city. You are just the dirt under our shoes. Briggs, break her legs. Then get the ledger."
Claire backed away, the damp harbor air filling her lungs. It was the same waterfront where her father had died. The symmetry was not lost on her. She took a deep breath and found her center.
Briggs swung the baton at her knees. Claire jumped, twisting mid-air, and kicked the baton from his grip. Two other security men rushed her. She became a blur of motion. She wasn't fighting; she was redirecting. She used their weight against them, sending one crashing into the hood of the SUV and sweeping the legs out from under the other.
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But there were too many. Briggs recovered the baton and struck Claire across the shoulder. She fell to one knee, gasping in pain. Vanessa stepped forward, raising a heel to crush Claire's hand.
Suddenly, the roar of a V8 engine shattered the night. Adrian’s sports car slammed into the back of Vanessa’s SUV. Adrian leapt out, not in a billionaire’s suit, but with a heavy iron wrench in his hand, his eyes burning with fury.
