Chapter 38 - The Unmasking
"Eleanor!" I sprinted through the smoke, glass, and ricocheting bullets, sliding across the slick deck toward the cage.
I jammed my hands through the rusted bars, pulling the manual latch. The heavy door swung open, and Eleanor tumbled out into my arms, sobbing hysterically. Her body was trembling, her hands covered in cuts and bruises.
"I'm sorry... Maya, I'm so sorry..." Eleanor wept into my neck, clutching my vest like a drowning child. "I was so stupid... I thought Richard loved me... I thought we could buy our way out..."
"Shut up and move!" I pulled her to her feet, shoving her toward the reinforced structural column where Sarah was providing cover fire.
Across the catwalk, Victor Vance was retreating toward the rooftop helipad, clutching his injured arm where a stray bullet had grazed him. He still held the silver drive in his hand.
Liam was already in pursuit, taking the metal stairs three at a time, moving like a predator closing in on its prey.
"Liam, don't let him reach the chopper!" Sarah shouted, reloading her rifle. "He’s got an air extraction on standby!"
"Eleanor, stay with Sarah!" I commanded, breaking into a dead sprint behind Liam.
"Maya, no!" Eleanor cried, but I didn't stop.
I burst through the rooftop access door onto the open helipad. The storm was at its peak. Gale-force winds whipped torrential rain across the slick, painted deck. Fifty feet above, a heavy black twin-engine helicopter was hovering, attempting to touch down on the pad amid the violent squalls.
Liam had cornered his father against the perimeter safety net.
Victor Vance had his back to the open Atlantic, his silver hair plastered across his face by the rain. In his right hand, he held a sleek ceramic pistol pointed directly at Liam's chest.
"You won't pull the trigger, Liam," Victor yelled over the deafening scream of the helicopter rotors. "I made you. I gave you everything you are. Without my money, without my network, you’re just another washed-up military contractor."
"You killed Richard. You slaughtered five marshals. You tried to execute Eleanor and Maya," Liam said, his voice cold, steady, and chillingly devoid of fear. His Glock was aimed directly at his father’s forehead. "You're a parasite, Victor. And your empire dies tonight."
"If I die, the decryption code dies with me!" Victor shouted, raising the quantum drive. "The ledger remains locked forever! Thorne Maritime burns, your reputation burns, and the Trust will hunt Maya to the ends of the earth!"
"He's lying, Liam!" I stepped onto the helipad, rain stinging my face, my gun raised and locked on Victor.
May you like
Victor's eyes snapped toward me, a sneer of pure contempt curling his lips. "Ah, the righteous wife. You think you've won, Maya? Look at what you've become. A killer with a gun in the middle of an ocean storm. You're just like us."
***
