Chapter 19 - The Scuttling
"She’s grounding!" I yelled over the radio. "Full reverse on engines two and three! Disengage towlines!"
A horrifying groan of tearing hull steel shrieked across the bay as the bottom of the ghost freighter ripped open against the jagged granite reef of the shoals. Thousands of gallons of seawater rushed into her lower ballast tanks. The massive ship lurched violently to her side, her forward momentum arrested instantly as she became impaled upon the rocks two miles away from the sleeping city.
The mercenaries on deck dropped their weapons, realizing the ship was taking on water too fast to maintain buoyancy. Several jumped into the freezing black chop, only to be scooped up and subdued by the encircling harbor police launches.
Silas stepped back into the wheelhouse, his face covered in black soot and rain, but his eyes glowing with triumph. He pulled me into his arms, crushing me against his soaked tactical vest, and kissed me with a passion so fierce it erased all the terror of the night.
"You steered us through the eye of hell, Elena," he whispered against my lips, breathing heavily.
May you like
"We protect what’s ours," I smiled, trembling with exhaustion and exhilaration.
We watched from the bridge of *The Sovereign* as the United States Coast Guard and bomb disposal units surrounded the grounded freighter with blue flashing lights, securing the cargo before a single ounce of explosive could ignite. The harbor was safe once more. The city behind us slept peacefully, entirely unaware that a catastrophe had been thwarted by the longshoremen and the family on the Bluffs.
