Chapter 9 - The Blood on the Pier
A bullet punched through the rusted metal railing an inch from Ronan’s shoulder, spraying hot iron fragments into the air.
"Ambush!" Miller roared, drawing a heavy-caliber sidearm from his coat holster in a blur of motion and shoving Ronan and Sadie behind the reinforced chassis of the town car.
Footsteps pounded against the wooden planks of the pier. From behind the stacked shipping containers at the end of the dock, three masked figures emerged, automatic weapons raised, sweeping fire toward the car. Glass shattered in a spiderweb of cracks as bullets chewed into the vehicle's bodywork.
"They tracked us," Miller muttered, firing two rapid shots back over the hood, dropping the lead assailant with clinical precision. "Mr. Cain, we've got to move—now!"
Ronan didn't flinch. His face was a mask of cold, lethal fury. He pulled a secondary firearm from his shoulder holster, checking the magazine with practiced ease. But his eyes weren't on the gunmen; they were fixed on Sadie, who crouched beside him, her breathing shallow but steady.
"You knew this was coming," Ronan said, his voice dangerously calm above the gunfire.
"I knew men like you never let the past stay buried," Sadie shouted back over the din of shattering glass. "And I knew they wouldn't stop until they found the rest of Julian's message!"
Another volley of gunfire splintered the wood above them. A bullet whined past Sadie's ear.
Without hesitation, Sadie reached into her canvas bag, pulled out a heavy metal wrench she used for maintenance, and thrust it toward Ronan.
"The security hatch on the old pier warehouse!" Sadie yelled, pointing toward a rusted iron door twenty yards down. "Julian showed me the blueprints! It leads to the underground drainage tunnels beneath Ashport Bay! It's the only way out of here alive!"
Ronan looked at her—really looked at her—not as a suspicious employee, not as a pawn, but as the woman his brother had trusted with his life.
A sharp, grim smile touched the corner of Ronan's mouth.
May you like
"Move!" he shouted.
With Miller laying down a suppressive wall of lead, Ronan grabbed Sadie’s hand, pulling her through the crossfire toward the rusted warehouse door as the rain began to fall in heavy, blinding sheets.
