Chapter 12 - Nine O'Clock at the Waterfront
The waterfront terminal had not been used for passenger traffic in years.
Its concrete platforms were cracked, its railings stained with rust, and its windows boarded over to keep out vandals.
At precisely eight forty-five the next morning, Donovan arrived with Julian and two trusted men.
Maeve remained in the vehicle behind a shipping container, watching the terminal entrance through a pair of binoculars.
Donovan had tried to persuade her to stay at the townhouse.
He had failed.
She had agreed not to enter the terminal unless the situation changed.
That was the compromise.
At eight fifty-eight, Victor arrived.
He emerged from a black sedan wearing a charcoal suit and a pale blue tie. He looked almost insultingly ordinary.
No armed convoy.
No obvious show of force.
Only two men followed him into the terminal.
Donovan stepped forward.
“Where is Adrian?”
Victor glanced around the empty platform.
“It's good to see you, too.”
“Where is the boy?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“That's not an answer.”
“It's the only one you're getting until I see the documents.”
Donovan handed him a thick folder.
Victor examined the first page.
Then the second.
His expression changed almost imperceptibly.
“You've made copies.”
“Of course.”
“And you've altered the transfer provisions.”
Donovan said nothing.
Victor looked up.
“Do you think I'm an idiot?”
“No.”
“Then why bring me a counterfeit?”
“Because you asked for documents that you have no legal right to possess.”
Victor laughed.
“You still believe this is about legality.”
He closed the folder.
“This is about power. Your father understood that. Your sister understood that. You were the only one who never learned.”
He motioned to one of his men.
A side door opened.
A small boy appeared, holding the hand of a woman wearing a dark coat.
Adrian.
Elena's son looked frightened but unharmed.
Donovan's face softened.
“Adrian.”
The boy looked at him.
“Who are you?”
Donovan swallowed.
“I'm your uncle.”
The woman beside Adrian stepped backward.
Victor gestured toward her.
“She's been caring for him since Elena disappeared. She doesn't know anything about our family business. She's paid well enough not to ask questions.”
Donovan stared at him.
“You used an innocent woman to hide a child.”
“I used someone who could keep her mouth shut.”
“Bring him here.”
Victor smiled.
“First, the original documents.”
Donovan's expression remained still.
“Let the boy go.”
“You first.”
For several seconds, neither man moved.
Then Maeve noticed something through the binoculars.
A second car had entered the terminal from the far road.
Two men climbed out.
One wore a dark coat.
The other carried a long, narrow case.
Matteo Vescari had arrived.
Maeve's pulse jumped.
She opened her phone and sent Julian a warning.
SECOND VEHICLE. TWO MEN. CHECK THE EAST ENTRANCE.
Julian read the message.
He touched Donovan's shoulder.
“Sir, we have company.”
Victor's smile widened.
“Of course we do.”
He stepped aside.
Matteo Vescari entered the terminal, clapping slowly.
“Beautiful morning for a family reunion.”
Donovan's face darkened.
“You were supposed to stay out of this.”
“And miss the opportunity to see you discover how little control you have?”
Matteo looked at the folder.
“Did he bring the documents?”
Victor handed him the fake set.
Matteo glanced at the signature page.
Then he laughed.
“These are worthless.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
Donovan looked at him.
“You didn't know?”
Matteo turned toward Victor.
“You told me the original trust documents were secured.”
“They were.”
“Then where are they?”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Donovan must have moved them.”
Donovan shook his head.
“No. You did.”
For the first time, uncertainty entered Victor's face.
Maeve understood.
The document stolen from the vault had been a decoy, but it had not been created by Donovan's team. Someone else had taken it before they arrived.
Someone had been playing both sides.
Matteo pulled a weapon.
“Enough.”
Adrian began to cry.
The woman holding him tried to move away, but one of Matteo's men grabbed her arm.
Donovan stepped forward.
“Let them go.”
Matteo pointed the weapon at him.
“You have one chance. Tell us where the original deed is.”
Donovan glanced toward the terminal's eastern entrance.
He knew Maeve was nearby.
He knew she was listening.
And he knew Victor and Matteo had made one mistake.
They believed the people they were threatening would keep behaving exactly as expected.
Donovan lifted his hands.
“It's in the vault beneath the old headquarters.”
Victor's eyes sharpened.
“Which vault?”
“The one behind the archive.”
Matteo looked at Victor.
“You said that vault was empty.”
Victor said nothing.
Donovan continued.
“The original deed is accompanied by Thomas Hayes's private letter acknowledging Victor as his son.”
Matteo's expression changed.
For the first time, he looked genuinely alarmed.
“You found it?”
“Yes.”
Victor took a step forward.
“Where is the letter?”
Donovan smiled faintly.
“Somewhere you can't reach it.”
Maeve heard the change in his voice.
He was buying time.
But something had gone wrong.
One of Matteo's men moved toward the waiting car.
The woman holding Adrian screamed.
Then everything happened at once.
A shot rang out.
Glass shattered.
The woman fell to the ground, still clutching Adrian.
Victor lunged for the folder.
Matteo turned toward the sound.
Donovan tackled him.
Maeve threw open the car door before Julian could stop her.
She ran toward the terminal.
“Maeve!” Julian shouted.
She ignored him.
Adrian was crying beside the fallen woman, too frightened to move.
Maeve reached him first.
“It's all right, sweetheart. Come here.”
The boy stumbled toward her.
She lifted him carefully, holding him against her chest.
A second shot struck the concrete beside her foot.
Julian grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a barrier.
Donovan emerged from the struggle with Matteo, blood running from a cut above his eyebrow.
“Maeve!”
“I'm okay!”
He looked at Adrian.
For a moment, the violence around them seemed to disappear.
The boy stared back at him, trembling.
Then he whispered, “Are you really my uncle?”
Donovan crouched in front of him.
“Yes.”
Adrian reached out a small hand.
Donovan took it.
And for the first time in three years, Elena's son was no longer being held by the people who had stolen him.
But Victor had disappeared during the confusion.
When the terminal was secured, Julian found a phone on the ground.
It belonged to Victor.
The screen was still open.
There was a message addressed to an unsaved contact.
THE TEST RESULTS MUST BE DESTROYED BEFORE TOMORROW.
May you like
Beneath it was another message.
IF DONOVAN LEARNS WHO THE BABY REALLY BELONGS TO, WE LOSE EVERYTHING.
