Chapter 44 - Through the Iron Sights
Two deafening gunshots echoed through the storm. Julian Blackwood’s reign ended in the mud of a polluted Brooklyn yard.
The surviving mercenaries, seeing their high-paying employer executed with clinical prejudice, broke formation and fled toward the chain-link exits. Marcus dropped two stragglers, but Dante raised a closed fist, signaling the team to hold their fire.
"Let them run," Dante ordered, his voice raw. "The police will be here in less than four minutes. We are out of time."
Dante turned away from his brother's body, holstering his weapon. He sprinted toward the loading dock where Maya and Sofia were sheltered. When he rounded the concrete barrier, he fell to his knees in the puddles, his broad frame shaking with a mixture of adrenaline and absolute relief.
He pulled both Maya and Sofia into his heavy, Kevlar-clad arms.
"Are you hurt?" Dante demanded, his hands frantically checking his daughter, then hovering over the deep, bleeding cuts on Maya's wrists.
"We're whole," Maya whispered, her teeth chattering from the bitter cold. "She didn't let go of me once."
Sofia unburied her face from Maya's shoulder. She looked at Dante, her large brown eyes reflecting the distant, burning fires of the industrial yard. Slowly, she reached out her small hand and touched the dark bandage strapped tightly around Dante's wounded shoulder.
"Papa is safe," Sofia whispered.
Dante closed his eyes, a ragged exhale tearing from his chest. "Papa is safe. You saved me, my little star."
May you like
"Transport is holding at the rear alley," Marcus interrupted, checking his encrypted tablet. "State troopers are locking down the bridges. We have a narrow window to slip into Manhattan and disappear before the dragnet closes."
"Take us to the Greenwich safe house," Dante commanded, lifting Sofia effortlessly into his arms while offering his free hand to Maya. She took it, his warm, calloused grip sealing the unwritten covenant between them.
