Chapter 11 - Three Hostages, One Hour
The coordinates led to three abandoned properties across Brooklyn and Queens.
Impossible to reach sequentially.
Perfectly designed to force a choice.
Diana stared at the map.
“No.”
Alvarez looked up.
“What?”
“These aren't the real locations.”
“How do you know?”
“Victor likes control.”
Miguel frowned.
“And?”
“If they're separate, he can't watch everything.”
Dominic understood first.
“He wants us to believe they're separate.”
Diana nodded.
“Exactly.”
The videos showed three different rooms.
But Diana noticed something.
Behind Rachel, a train horn sounded.
Behind Eddie, another horn sounded twelve seconds later.
Same pitch.
Elena's room had faint vibration.
“They're near the same rail line.”
Miguel studied timestamps.
“You're right.”
They mapped industrial buildings near freight tracks.
One property matched all three coordinate distances.
An old distribution center.
“That's where he is,” Dominic said.
Police mobilized.
Diana was ordered to remain behind.
She argued.
Dominic took both her hands.
“No.”
She glared.
“This again?”
“This time, yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you're injured, exhausted, and not trained to enter a building full of armed men.”
She opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
Annoyingly reasonable.
“I hate when you make sense.”
“I know.”
Rook remained with Diana at the command vehicle.
Dominic joined the tactical team only as an advisor, reluctantly agreeing not to enter first.
For twenty minutes Diana listened to radio traffic.
Entry.
Movement.
One hostage located.
Rachel.
Alive.
Second hostage.
Elena.
Alive.
Diana exhaled.
“Eddie?”
No response.
Then gunfire.
The radio erupted.
Victor was not there.
Eddie was gone.
A message appeared on Diana's phone.
Smart girl. You saved two.
Another photograph.
Eddie beside Victor inside a moving car.
But you forgot the man who knows everything.
Diana showed Alvarez.
“He's taking Eddie somewhere.”
Miguel stared.
“Or Eddie went willingly.”
Diana shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Look at his hands.”
Eddie's wrists were not tied.
But his left hand was clenched unusually.
Diana zoomed the image.
Between his fingers was fabric.
A hospital identification band.
Numbers visible.
Not random.
Coordinates.
“He's giving us the location.”
Miguel stared.
“That's clever.”
“Don't sound so surprised.”
The coordinates pointed toward the waterfront.
An old shipping terminal.
The same place Rachel originally said Victor used.
“This is the real endgame,” Dominic said.
Diana looked at him.
“Then don't go alone.”
“I won't.”
Police surrounded the terminal.
This time Victor was waiting.
Eddie sat in the center of the warehouse.
Victor held a gun behind him.
Dominic entered with Alvarez.
Diana watched through a body camera.
Victor laughed.
“So the famous Dominic Cross brings police.”
Dominic's voice remained calm.
“People change.”
“People pretend.”
Victor pressed the weapon to Eddie's head.
“You destroyed my family.”
“Your father destroyed your family.”
“He built an empire.”
“He built a graveyard.”
Victor's face twisted.
Diana saw obsession.
This was never really about money.
It was inheritance.
Two sons carrying fathers' sins.
Dominic had spent years trying to escape his.
Victor had worshiped his.
“I want the ledger.”
“Already copied.”
“The tape.”
“Copied.”
Victor's smile faltered.
“You have nothing to bargain with,” Dominic said.
Victor tightened his grip.
“I have him.”
Dominic looked at Eddie.
“No offense, Eddie.”
Eddie laughed weakly.
“None taken.”
Victor struck him.
Diana flinched.
Then Eddie looked directly toward Alvarez's body camera.
He knew Diana might be watching.
His lips moved.
Run.
Diana frowned.
Why would he tell them to run?
Then she saw it.
Wires.
Near a support beam.
“Bomb!”
She shouted into the radio.
“GET OUT!”
Alvarez heard.
Dominic heard.
Victor smiled.
Eddie lunged.
He grabbed Victor's arm.
Gunfire erupted.
Dominic rushed forward.
Alvarez tackled Victor.
Eddie fell.
Teams evacuated.
Dominic dragged Eddie outside.
Seconds later the warehouse exploded.
Flames consumed the roof.
Diana watched from the command vehicle.
Then the body camera feed died.
“No.”
She ran.
Rook followed.
Officers tried to stop her.
Smoke filled the waterfront.
She saw Dominic.
Alive.
Then Eddie.
Bleeding badly.
Diana dropped beside him.
“Nurse!”
Everything disappeared except procedure.
Pressure.
Airway.
Pulse.
Eddie's eyes opened.
“Did we get him?”
“Don't talk.”
“Diana.”
“Save your energy.”
“Please.”
She looked toward Alvarez.
Officers had Victor in restraints.
Alive.
Captured.
“Yes,” Diana whispered. “We got him.”
Eddie smiled.
“Good.”
His eyes closed.
“Eddie!”
Pulse weak.
Diana continued compressions.
Paramedics arrived.
They loaded him.
Dominic remained near her.
Blood covered his coat.
“Are you injured?”
“No.”
“Sure?”
“Yes.”
She looked at Victor.
For years Eddie had been the monster she feared.
Now another monster stood behind him.
It did not excuse Eddie.
But understanding was not forgiveness.
And forgiveness was not forgetting.
Victor was placed in a police vehicle.
As it drove away, Diana felt something loosen inside her chest.
Maybe freedom.
Then Alvarez received a call.
Her face changed.
“What?”
Diana's stomach tightened.
“What now?”
Alvarez looked toward Dominic.
“Federal agents are coming.”
“For Victor?”
“For both of them.”
Diana frowned.
“Both?”
Alvarez looked at Dominic.
“Victor Kane and Dominic Cross.”
Diana turned.
Dominic did not look surprised.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“What are they charging you with?”
Dominic's silence answered.
Victor might finally be falling.
But he was not going down alone.
May you like
Continued in Chapter 12…
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