Chapter 6 - The Trap at Pier 42
The iron door of Warehouse 42 creaked loudly as Sloan pushed it open.
The smell of rust, salt water, and cold diesel fuel filled the air. Inside, under the harsh overhead yellow halogen lights, six men snapped their weapons toward her instantly. Red laser sights danced across her chest.
"Hold your fire!" Paulie "The Hammer" Russo bellowed, his voice echoing in the vast space. He stepped forward, his face pale and sweating profusely despite the freezing air. "Who the hell are you?"
Sloan raised her hands slowly, stepping into the pool of light. She let her shoulders slouch, let her breath come in short, ragged gasps, perfectly faking the posture of a terrified, helpless victim.
"Please... don't shoot," she sobbed, forcing tears into her eyes. "I’m Sloan... from Aurelio’s. The waitress."
Julian Thorne, standing near a polished wooden crate, slowly turned around. He looked pristine in his cashmere coat, holding an umbrella despite being indoors. A condescending smile touched his lips.
"Well, well," Thorne said softly, stepping toward her. "The clever little girl who wrote the napkin. I must admit, Miss Mercer, you ruined a very expensive evening for me."
"I didn't mean to!" Sloan cried out, her voice echoing desperation. "I was just scared! But after Vance took me to his estate... I heard him talking. I knew he was coming here to kill Paulie! I ran away. I stole one of his cars. I came here to tell you!"
Paulie looked at Thorne, panic evident in his posture. "Julian... if Vance knows—"
"Shut up, Paulie," Thorne snapped coldly. He looked back at Sloan, his eyes scanning her up and down. "You stole a car from Dominic Vance’s secure compound? A twenty-four-year-old hospitality worker beat his multi-million-dollar perimeter defense?"
"I used to work in medical transport!" Sloan lied smoothly, her voice trembling just enough to be convincing. "I know how security gate codes work! Look, I don't care about Vance, and I don't care about your mob war! I just want money to get my mother out of the state! I can tell you where Vance’s safehouse is! The real one in Sunriver where his shell companies operate!"
Thorne paused. The red laser sights stayed fixed on her chest, but his cold demeanor shifted slightly. The greed in his eyes was palpable. Getting the location of Vance’s financial hub was worth hundreds of millions.
"Step closer, Miss Mercer," Thorne commanded, pulling an encrypted smartphone from his pocket. "Tell me the address. If it’s real, I’ll hand you a briefcase with fifty thousand dollars in cash right now."
Sloan took three slow, deliberate steps forward. She was now four feet from Thorne, standing directly in the center of the concrete floor.
She glanced subtly at the concrete floor beneath Thorne’s polished shoes. She saw the heavy industrial drainage grate right behind him.
"The address," Sloan whispered, leaning in as if to speak secretly, "is that you shouldn't have worn soft leather shoes to a wet dock."
Thorne frowned. "What?"
Sloan instantly dropped flat onto her stomach.
BOOM!
The massive steel loading bay door behind them exploded inward as Vance’s custom armored SUV smashed through the corrugated metal at fifty miles per hour. Metal debris, concrete dust, and glass sprayed through the air like shrapnel.
Before the mercenaries could react, Marcus and four heavily armed Vance enforcers poured through the breach, firing suppressed submachine guns with lethal, surgical precision.
The room erupted into absolute chaos.
Sloan scrambled across the floor toward the safety of an iron pillar. Paulie turned to run, but Vance himself stepped out from behind the SUV, firing two round into Paulie’s chest. The lieutenant dropped like a sack of stones.
Julian Thorne screamed in terror, dropping his phone and sprinting toward the rear exit near the docks.
"Sloan!" Vance’s voice shouted through the gun smoke. "Which way?"
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Sloan popped up from behind the pillar, her eyes instantly scanning the environment. "He’s heading for the water taxi at the north slip! But the walkway is rotted—he’s going to hit the security gate!"
Vance didn't hesitate. He sprinted toward the north corridor, cutting off Thorne’s escape route before the CEO could reach the water.
