Chapter 7 - THE STANDOFF
The rain fell in sheets, washing the blood from the concrete at Marcus’s feet.
Ethan stood slowly, keeping his body positioned squarely between the shotgun and his family. He held his suppressed pistol at his side, but he knew he couldn't raise it fast enough. A shotgun at this range would tear him apart.
"You've lost, Marcus," Ethan said, his voice projecting a calm he didn't feel. "Even if you kill us, the evidence is out there."
"Bluffing is for poker, Ethan, not the boardroom," Marcus sneered, taking a step closer. The two suited men flanked him, their weapons drawn, nursing their injuries. "I watched you pick up the drive. It's in your pocket. Hand it over."
Nora gripped the back of Ethan’s coat. Lily was completely silent, her small hands covering her ears.
"You're right," Ethan said slowly. He reached into his coat pocket. "I have it."
He pulled out the small digital hard drive. It glinted in the grey light.
"Good boy," Marcus said. "Now slide it over. Slowly."
Ethan held the drive between his thumb and index finger.
He looked at Marcus. Then he looked past Marcus, toward the edge of the pier where the black water churned violently fifty feet below.
"You want it?" Ethan asked softly.
Ethan wound his arm back and threw the hard drive as hard as he could over Marcus’s head.
The small metallic square arced high into the misty air.
Marcus screamed in horror. "No!"
The two suited men instinctively broke cover, lunging toward the edge of the pier in a desperate, futile attempt to catch it.
The drive hit the dark water with a tiny splash and vanished forever.
"You fool!" Marcus roared, turning his shotgun back to Ethan. "You just signed your own death warrant!"
"Did I?" Ethan smiled grimly.
He reached into his other pocket.
He pulled out his cell phone. The screen was lit up. It showed a progress bar that had just hit 100%. The word SENT flashed in bold green letters.
Marcus froze.
"Did you really think a data drive from eight years ago was the only copy?" Ethan asked, his voice echoing with absolute authority. "David was smarter than you, Marcus. He didn't just leave a drive. He left a cloud backup. The drive in the vault just had the decryption key."
Marcus’s face turned ashen.
"While we were talking about family," Ethan continued, stepping forward, "I plugged the decryption key into my phone. I just sent the entire unencrypted file—the ledgers, the emails, the hit orders—to the FBI field office, the SEC, and the New York Times."
"You're lying," Marcus whispered, his hands shaking on the shotgun.
"Am I?" Ethan countered. "Check your phone, Marcus. I CC'd you."
A second later, a sharp chime echoed from Marcus’s jacket pocket. Then another. Then the phones of the two suited men began to ring simultaneously.
The empire was falling apart in real-time.
"It’s over," Ethan said. "The police are already on their way. You have about three minutes before this pier is swarming with federal agents. You can shoot me, Marcus. But you will spend the rest of your pathetic life in a federal supermax prison."
Marcus stared at Ethan, pure venom in his eyes. He raised the shotgun, aiming it right at Ethan’s face.
His finger tightened on the trigger.
"Marcus, don't!" one of the suited men yelled, backing away. "If we run now, we can make it to the private jet!"
Marcus’s jaw clenched. He looked at Ethan, then at Nora, who was staring back at him with fierce, unbroken defiance.
With a roar of frustration, Marcus lowered the gun.
"This isn't over, Ethan," Marcus spat.
He turned and sprinted toward the SUV. His men were already inside. The tires smoked on the wet pavement as the vehicle tore away from the pier, disappearing into the fog.
Ethan stood perfectly still until the sound of the engine faded.
Then, his knees buckled.
He dropped to the wet concrete, the adrenaline leaving his body all at once.
"Ethan!" Nora cried, dropping beside him. She grabbed his face, her hands frantically checking him for bullet wounds. "Are you hit? Did they hit you?"
"I'm fine," Ethan gasped, laughing weakly. "I'm fine. They didn't hit me."
He looked up at her. The rain had washed the blonde dye from the roots of her hair, revealing the dark strands beneath. She looked beautiful. She looked like home.
Lily crept out from behind the crates. She walked up to Ethan, holding her stuffed rabbit by its ear.
Ethan opened his arms.
Lily didn't hesitate. She threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. Ethan held her tight, squeezing his eyes shut as the tears finally fell.
"You were so brave," Ethan whispered into her hair. "You were so brave, Lily."
"You threw the computer into the ocean," Lily mumbled against his coat, sounding amazed.
"I did," Ethan laughed, pressing a kiss to her temple.
Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder by the second. The flashing red and blue lights began to cut through the grey mist, illuminating the rusted cranes of the shipyard.
Nora rested her head against Ethan’s shoulder, her arm wrapped around his waist.
May you like
"We don't have to run anymore, do we?" Nora asked softly.
"No," Ethan said, resting his hand over hers. The silver bracelet on her wrist pressed against the silver ring on his finger. "We're going home, Amelia. We're finally going home."
