Chapter 6 - The Night They Came for Willa
The storage facility stood near the river, surrounded by warehouses and empty parking lots.
Bastion wanted Willa left behind.
Willa refused.
“I can identify him.”
“You can identify him from a photograph.”
“He’ll deny it.”
“He’ll deny everything.”
“Then let him deny it while looking at me.”
Bastion’s face turned to stone. “Absolutely not.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“She may be useful as a witness, but taking her into an active operation is reckless.”
Willa crossed her arms. “I’m standing right here.”
Marcus crouched beside her.
“Willa, Victor wants the ledger. He may believe you have it.”
“I don’t.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
She looked at Bastion.
“What if we make him think I do?”
“No,” Bastion said.
Marcus slowly stood.
“It could draw him out.”
Bastion turned on him. “Finish that sentence and find another employer.”
Marcus held up both hands.
Willa walked closer to Bastion.
“You promised to come back the night they attacked the house.”
“Yes.”
“Now let me make a promise.”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“I know enough.”
She took his hand.
“I promise I’ll stay with Marcus. I promise I’ll listen. But you can’t keep me behind a wall forever.”
Bastion looked down at her small fingers wrapped around his.
He hated that she was right.
An hour later, three unmarked vehicles surrounded the storage facility. Two trusted police detectives waited nearby, both cleared by Daniel.
Willa remained in an armored SUV with Marcus.
Bastion entered the building alone.
Rows of metal doors stretched beneath fluorescent lights. His footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Unit 317 stood open.
Victor Crowe waited inside.
He was forty-eight, silver-haired, and dressed in a charcoal coat. Time had sharpened his face rather than softened it.
On a table between them sat a photograph of Norah and Willa.
“You came quickly,” Victor said.
“You threatened my daughter.”
“Our daughter now, is she?”
Bastion’s expression remained still.
“You went to Norah’s hospital room.”
“She had something that belonged to me.”
“She had proof you stole from thousands of people.”
Victor smiled.
“You still think this is about money.”
“What is it about?”
“You.”
Bastion said nothing.
Victor walked around the table.
“Father gave you everything. The legitimate businesses. The respect. Even the family name, while I cleaned up his messes.”
“You sold information to federal agents.”
“I survived.”
“You betrayed everyone who trusted you.”
“Trust is a luxury for men who inherit protection.”
Bastion’s voice cooled.
“You threatened a dying woman and an eight-year-old child because you lost a business war.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“You think that child makes you better?”
“No.”
“She makes you weak.”
Bastion stepped closer.
“She makes me precise.”
Victor pulled a gun.
At that exact moment, the lights went out.
A shot cracked through the darkness.
Bastion dropped behind a row of storage crates.
Emergency lights flickered red.
Victor moved toward a rear exit.
Outside, Marcus heard the gunshot.
“Stay in the vehicle,” he told Willa.
He opened the door.
Then the SUV’s rear window shattered.
Marcus shoved Willa onto the floor as another bullet struck the armored glass.
“Driver, move!”
The engine roared, but a truck blocked the exit.
Two men approached from opposite sides.
Marcus returned fire through the opened door.
Willa crawled toward the front seat.
“Stay down!” Marcus shouted.
She saw one of the attackers moving toward the driver’s side.
On the floor beside her lay Marcus’s phone.
Willa grabbed it.
The emergency call screen was already open.
She pressed the button and whispered their location.
Inside the building, Bastion tackled Victor before he reached the exit.
They crashed into a metal door.
Victor struck Bastion with the gun. Pain flashed across Bastion’s temple.
“You were always afraid to become Father,” Victor hissed.
Bastion drove his shoulder into Victor’s chest.
“And you were always desperate to.”
The gun slid across the floor.
Victor lunged for it.
Bastion caught his coat and pulled him backward.
Police sirens screamed outside.
Victor froze.
“How?”
A child’s voice came through the speaker of a fallen phone near the entrance.
“I called them.”
Willa stood in the doorway behind Marcus.
Bastion’s face drained of color.
“What are you doing here?”
“The car was blocked.”
Victor looked toward her.
Recognition crossed his face.
“You have Norah’s eyes,” he said.
Willa’s chin lifted.
“No. I have my father’s.”
Victor reached inside his coat.
Bastion moved instantly.
He slammed Victor against the wall before the weapon cleared the fabric.
Detectives rushed in and forced Victor to the floor.
Bastion did not release him until Marcus touched his shoulder.
“It’s over.”
Bastion turned toward Willa.
She stood beside the door, shaking violently now that the danger had passed.
He crossed the distance in three strides.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“You disobeyed every instruction.”
“The car was being shot at.”
“You came inside an unsecured building.”
“Marcus was with me.”
Marcus cleared his throat. “In fairness, she stayed behind me.”
Bastion glared at him.
“Not helping,” Marcus said.
Willa looked at the blood on Bastion’s temple.
“You promised to come back.”
“I was coming back.”
“You were taking too long.”
Bastion knelt and pulled her against his chest.
This time, Willa cried openly.
“I thought he shot you.”
“I’m here.”
“I thought I was going to lose you too.”
“You didn’t.”
She clutched his coat.
“Don’t send me away.”
Bastion closed his eyes.
“I never intended to.”
“The judge might.”
“Then the judge will have to argue with me.”
A detective approached.
“We have Victor’s gun, Crane’s statement, the hospital badge, and the financial records. This should end the custody challenge.”
Bastion looked at Willa.
“Did you hear that?”
She nodded against his chest.
“So we won?”
Bastion held her tighter.
“We survived tonight.”
May you like
“That’s not the same.”
“No,” he said. “But it’s how winning begins.”
