Chapter 15 - The Wrong Target
Maya slammed into Julian.
The bullet missed his head by inches and struck a steel column.
Gunfire erupted.
Derek's team returned fire from the east side.
Elena screamed.
Vale disappeared behind machinery.
Julian dragged Maya behind a forklift.
"You hit?"
"No. You?"
"No."
"Great. We're improving."
Despite everything, he laughed once.
Then the man guarding Elena pulled her toward a stairwell.
Maya saw them.
"Mom!"
She ran.
Julian swore and followed.
They climbed two flights as shots cracked below.
Elena fought harder than anyone expected from a fifty-eight-year-old woman recovering from heart surgery. She stomped the guard's foot, threw her head backward into his nose, and twisted free.
"Mom, down!"
Maya grabbed her as Julian tackled the guard into a railing.
The two men crashed hard.
The guard reached for a knife.
Maya kicked it away.
Julian punched him once, twice, then stopped himself before the third could become something worse.
"Go," he said.
They moved toward the catwalk exit.
A figure stepped from the shadows.
Nico.
For half a second, relief.
Then Maya saw his gun pointed at Julian.
"Nico?"
His face was wrecked.
"I'm sorry."
Julian slowly raised his hands. "Where's Sophie?"
"Safe."
"Then why are you doing this?"
Nico's eyes filled. "Because Vale isn't the only one who knows what's on that drive."
"What are you talking about?"
"My name is all over those records. Not just forged signatures. Collections. Threats. I was twenty, twenty-one. I did what your father told me. If that drive goes federal, I don't see Sophie grow up."
Maya stepped forward. "So you trade our lives for your freedom?"
"I can't go to prison."
Elena said quietly, "My husband died because men kept saying they had no choice."
Nico flinched.
Julian's voice softened. "You have a choice now."
"You don't understand."
"I understand exactly. Give me the gun. Take responsibility. Let Sophie know her father finally told the truth."
Nico shook his head.
Behind him, Vale appeared.
"Beautiful speech."
Nico spun.
Vale shot him in the stomach.
Maya screamed.
Nico collapsed.
Vale grabbed Maya by the hair and pulled her backward, gun pressed beneath her jaw.
Julian froze.
"Drive," Vale said.
Julian's hand went to his pocket.
"Now."
Maya saw the fear in Julian's eyes.
Not fear for himself.
For her.
His fingers started shaking again.
May you like
Vale smiled.
"There it is."
