Chapter 11 - THE NIGHT BLACKWOOD TOWER FELL
The attack began thirty seconds later.
Gunfire erupted three floors below.
Daniel moved faster than a man with a cane should have been able to.
“Service stairs.”
I stared at him.
“You disappear for six years and your first sentence is an evacuation order?”
“You can yell at me when we’re not being invaded.”
Jenna grabbed my arm.
“He has a point.”
“Of course you’d like him.”
“I’ve known him thirty seconds.”
“Twenty-nine too many.”
Daniel almost laughed.
Then an explosion shook the building.
We moved.
My security network had been compromised from inside.
Victor had spent years placing loyal men in key positions while I moved the organization toward legitimate businesses.
He had been preparing for this.
We descended through a maintenance shaft.
Jenna removed her heels.
Daniel glanced at her.
“She really is the one.”
“Not now.”
“I remember enough to know you never brought anyone into danger voluntarily.”
“She brought herself.”
“That sounds like your type.”
Jenna whispered, “I like him.”
“Please stop encouraging him.”
On the twenty-eighth floor, two armed men blocked the stairwell.
Jenna grabbed a fire extinguisher and smashed it into one attacker’s wrist before I could stop her.
Daniel stared.
“I definitely like her.”
We reached the underground garage.
Ryan was waiting with Thomas and Linda.
My surviving loyal men regrouped around us.
For the first time in six years, Daniel stood beside me.
Alive.
I wanted answers.
Instead, he gave me a warning.
“Victor’s shipment leaves at midnight tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know what’s inside.”
“Weapons.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not ordinary weapons.”
He handed me a manifest.
Military-grade explosives.
Enough to level a city block.
Victor planned to sell them to a private militia and blame the transaction on me.
If it succeeded, I would either go to prison or die in retaliation.
Jenna scanned the manifest.
Then stopped at the destination.
“Evan.”
“What?”
“This warehouse.”
She showed me the address.
It belonged to the venue where Matt’s wedding reception was scheduled for Saturday.
Daniel looked at her.
“That isn’t a coincidence.”
Jenna’s face turned white.
May you like
Victor had not chosen the location merely to move weapons.
He had chosen it because Jenna’s entire family would soon be gathered there.
