Chapter 7 - Into the Night
They burst through the heavy iron storm doors into the cool, salt-laden night air of Narragansett Bay.
Behind them, Kane Point was a roaring inferno. Orange flames erupted through the slate roof, painting the dark sky a violent shade of crimson. The heat radiated outward across the jagged cliffs, driving back the encroaching fog.
Down the winding coastal road, the flashing red and blue lights of federal marshals and local emergency vehicles were finally tearing up the driveway, their sirens wailing through the coastal pines.
Grayson and Delia collapsed against the rough stone perimeter wall, both of them breathing heavily, covered in soot, ash, and sweat.
Grayson looked down at his hands—shaking slightly, but free. Then he looked at Delia. Her hair was messy, her uniform torn at the sleeve, and a smudge of black soot ran across her cheekbone. Yet she looked entirely serene, gazing out at the churning black waters of the bay.
"You saved my life," Grayson said quietly, his voice carrying a raw, unaccustomed vulnerability. "In a world where everyone was waiting for me to fall, you were the only one who didn't look away."
Delia reached slowly for her utility belt, pulled out her writing tablet, and wrote a final message. She turned it toward him in the flashing red glow of the approaching police cruisers.
Everyone is invisible until they choose to be seen.
Grayson read the words slowly. A profound, genuine smile touched his lips—the first real smile he had worn in a decade. He reached out and gently touched her hand.
May you like
"Thank you, Delia."
As federal agents swarmed the cliffside and federal vehicles blocked the gates, Grayson Kane—the most feared man in New England—stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the mute maid who had brought an empire crashing down.
