Chapter 8 - The Betrayal at Pier Twenty-Seven
Midnight arrived beneath freezing rain.
Victor entered the abandoned warehouse first.
Aliyah remained twenty yards behind him, hidden beneath a dark coat.
Nikolai's men surrounded the perimeter.
Police were waiting farther away.
Not ordinary officers.
Federal agents contacted through Naomi's evidence.
Victor carried the flash drive.
At least, Mikhail believed he did.
A teenage girl sat tied to a chair beneath a hanging industrial light.
Lily.
Eva.
Victor stopped.
She had his eyes.
There was no doubt.
A gray-haired man stepped from the darkness.
Mikhail Malenkov.
Victor stared at the father he'd buried seventeen years earlier.
“You look disappointed,” Mikhail said.
“I was happier when you were dead.”
Mikhail smiled.
Then Sergei appeared.
Victor's hand moved toward his weapon.
Sergei shook his head.
“Careful.”
A gun pressed against Eva's head.
Victor stopped.
“Release her.”
“The drive.”
Victor held it up.
Mikhail extended his hand.
Then Elena entered.
Victor turned.
“Elena?”
She walked past him.
Straight toward Mikhail.
Aliyah felt horror crawl through her.
Elena had betrayed them.
Mikhail smiled.
“You always were practical.”
Victor looked devastated.
“You contacted him.”
Elena wouldn't meet his eyes.
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because he promised Eva would live.”
Victor's voice dropped.
“You trusted him?”
“I trusted what mothers do when their children are threatened.”
Mikhail took the drive.
“Touching.”
He inserted it into a laptop.
Nothing happened.
His smile disappeared.
“What's this?”
Victor looked at Aliyah.
Aliyah smiled.
“A nursing student knows something about sterilization.”
Mikhail stared.
“That isn't the drive.”
“No.”
Aliyah held up the real one.
“And the contents were sent to federal investigators forty minutes ago.”
Gunfire erupted.
Everything happened at once.
Nikolai's men stormed the warehouse.
Federal agents entered from the rear.
Sergei dragged Eva toward a side exit.
Victor pursued him.
Mikhail grabbed Aliyah.
A gun pressed against her ribs.
“Tell them to stop!”
Aliyah froze.
Victor turned.
Mikhail smiled.
“There she is. Your new weakness.”
Victor lowered his gun.
“Let her go.”
“Drop it.”
Victor obeyed.
Mikhail laughed.
“Twelve years without touching anyone, and then this waitress appears.”
Aliyah looked at Victor.
His eyes told her to wait.
Mikhail dragged her backward.
Then Elena moved.
She shot Mikhail in the shoulder.
He screamed.
Aliyah dropped.
Victor lunged.
Nikolai tackled Sergei near the loading dock.
Agents flooded the building.
Within seconds, it was over.
Almost.
Victor found Eva crouched behind a crate.
She stared at him.
He approached slowly.
“Eva?”
“My name is Lily.”
“Then Lily.”
She swallowed.
“Are you really my father?”
Victor's composure shattered.
“Yes.”
She looked terrified.
He stopped several feet away.
“I won't touch you unless you want me to.”
The girl stared at the man feared across Boston.
Then she stood.
And hugged him.
Victor closed his eyes.
His arms slowly wrapped around his daughter.
Aliyah cried.
Elena did too.
For twelve years, Victor had rejected every touch.
Now he held the child he never knew existed.
But when Eva finally stepped away, she looked at Elena.
“Why did you send them the message?”
Victor turned.
Elena froze.
“What message?”
Eva's voice shook.
“The message telling them Victor had the drive.”
Everyone looked at Elena.
She closed her eyes.
“I can explain.”
May you like
Victor's face went cold.
“You'd better.”
