Chapter 16 - The Midnight Raid
By midnight, the storm over Lake Michigan had intensified into a gale-force blizzard. At the harbor administration offices, Gordon, Ben, and I stood by the second-floor windows overlooking the dry docks. Below, the massive timber beams of our newly dedicated pier groaned against the icy surge of the waves.
Suddenly, Barnaby sprang up from his rug near the fireplace, a low, menacing growl vibrating in his chest. His golden hackles stood on end as he faced the service entrance leading from the lower loading docks.
"Someone's on the pier," Ben whispered, pointing toward a faint beam of yellow light flickering between the stacked freight containers.
Gordon immediately pulled out his radio, signaling harbor security, but the line buzzed with dead static. "The repeater’s down. They cut our security feed."
"Julian," I said, a cold certainty settling in my chest. "He knows the federal marshals are issuing arrest warrants at sunrise. He has nothing left to lose."
Leaving Lily inside the reinforced inner office with Barnaby, Gordon and I pulled on our heavy wool coats and descended the iron spiral staircase toward the docks. The freezing wind whipped needles of sleet against our faces as we stepped out onto the wet timber decking.
Through the howling storm, we saw them: three figures dressed in dark rain slickers, using crowbars to pry open the heavy padlocks on our central electrical switching station. Standing beside them, holding a can of industrial accelerant, was Julian. His silk tie was gone, his hair was plastered to his forehead by the freezing rain, and his eyes burned with madness.
"If I can’t own this harbor, Eleanor," Julian screamed over the roar of the surf, his voice cracking with hysteria, "no one will! You took my money, you took my reputation, you turned my own children against me!"
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"You did this to yourself, Julian!" I shouted back, stepping forward beside Gordon into the howling wind. "You walked through that airport terminal expecting me to beg for scraps! But you underestimated what a mother will do to protect her family!"
***
