Chapter 5 - The Night at Pier 19
Rain hammered the Brooklyn waterfront.
Pier 19 had been abandoned for years.
Exactly the kind of place Elliot Grayson preferred.
Damian stopped the car two hundred yards away.
Claire reached for the door.
He caught her wrist.
“You stay behind me.”
“My daughter is inside.”
“And if you get killed?”
Claire stared.
Damian lowered his voice.
“Sophie needs you alive.”
She nodded.
Marco spoke through Damian’s earpiece.
“Teams are positioned.”
“No shooting unless Sophie is clear.”
“Understood.”
Damian walked into the warehouse carrying the memory card.
Claire followed ten feet behind.
A spotlight turned on.
Sophie sat on a chair near the center of the building.
Her hands were tied.
“Mama!”
Claire moved.
Damian stopped her.
“Wait.”
Elliot appeared behind Sophie.
He held a gun.
“You came.”
Damian raised the memory card.
“Let her go.”
“First the card.”
“No.”
Elliot smiled.
“Still stubborn.”
“You taught me.”
“That was your father.”
“No.”
Damian looked at him.
“My father taught me loyalty.”
Elliot’s expression darkened.
Damian continued.
“You taught me never to confuse loyalty with obedience.”
Elliot pointed the gun toward Sophie.
Claire gasped.
Damian did not move.
“The card.”
Damian held it up.
“You kill her, I crush this.”
Elliot’s hand tightened.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
Sophie began crying.
“Uncle Damian.”
Damian’s expression softened.
“Hey, princess.”
She sniffed.
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“You said I wasn’t in trouble.”
“You’re not.”
“Then why that man yelling?”
Elliot snapped, “Quiet.”
Damian’s eyes changed.
“Don’t speak to her again.”
Elliot laughed.
“You think you’re her father now?”
“No.”
Damian glanced at Sophie.
“I’m her uncle.”
Then he looked back at Elliot.
“And that is enough.”
Claire noticed movement behind a stack of containers.
Marco.
Damian saw him too.
He needed time.
“Why Lucas?” Damian asked.
Elliot frowned.
“What?”
“You could have disappeared with the money.”
“Lucas wouldn’t stop.”
“So you killed him.”
“He forced me.”
Claire shouted, “Nobody forced you.”
Elliot looked at her.
“You have no idea what the Romano family was before I civilized it.”
Damian smiled coldly.
“You stole from criminals and convinced yourself that made you better than them.”
“I built an empire.”
“You built accounts.”
“I built you.”
That caught Damian.
Elliot stepped closer.
“After your father died, who taught you how to negotiate with banks?”
“You.”
“Who kept the government from destroying your companies?”
“You.”
“Who kept Vincent from tearing the family apart?”
“You.”
Elliot raised his voice.
“And what did I receive?”
“Millions.”
“I deserved more.”
There it was.
Not ideology.
Not survival.
Greed.
Damian tossed the memory card onto the floor between them.
Elliot looked down.
“Take it.”
Claire stared at Damian.
Elliot smiled.
“Finally.”
He stepped forward.
That was the mistake.
Marco moved.
A suppressed shot struck Elliot’s gun hand.
The weapon fell.
Claire ran toward Sophie.
Gunfire erupted from the catwalk.
Damian pulled Claire behind a steel pillar.
“Stay down!”
Marco’s team returned fire.
Elliot grabbed the memory card and ran.
Damian chased him.
“Grayson!”
Elliot reached the dock.
A speedboat waited outside.
Damian tackled him before he could jump aboard.
They hit the wet concrete.
Elliot swung first.
Damian blocked.
One punch.
Another.
Elliot reached for a hidden knife.
Damian grabbed his wrist.
“You murdered Lucas.”
Elliot struggled.
“Yes.”
Damian froze.
Elliot smiled.
“And do you know the funniest part?”
Damian twisted his wrist.
The knife fell.
“Lucas died believing you betrayed him.”
Damian’s face changed.
Elliot laughed.
“I forged messages from you.”
Damian hit him.
Hard.
Elliot collapsed.
Damian raised his fist again.
Then he heard Sophie.
“Uncle Damian!”
He stopped.
Sophie stood twenty feet away with Claire.
Claire held her tightly.
Sophie was staring at him.
Damian slowly lowered his hand.
Marco approached.
“We have him.”
Damian stood.
“Take him.”
Elliot spat blood.
“You won’t kill me?”
Damian looked down.
“No.”
Elliot smiled weakly.
“Mercy?”
“No.”
Damian leaned closer.
“You’re going to live long enough to watch every account you built disappear.”
Police sirens sounded in the distance.
Elliot stared.
“You called the police?”
“I called people you couldn’t buy.”
For the first time, fear appeared on Elliot Grayson’s face.
Damian walked away.
Claire met him halfway.
Sophie immediately reached for him.
Damian lifted her.
She wrapped both arms around his neck.
“You came.”
Damian swallowed.
“I promised.”
“Mama says promises matter.”
“She’s right.”
Sophie touched the bruise forming on his cheek.
“You got hurt.”
“I’ve had worse.”
She frowned.
“That means bad.”
Damian smiled.
“Then I’m fine.”
Claire looked at him.
“Thank you.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
His voice softened.
“Thank Lucas.”
He opened his hand.
The real memory card rested in his palm.
Claire stared.
“What did Grayson take?”
“A blank card.”
For the first time that night, Claire laughed.
Damian looked at Sophie.
Then Claire.
The rain continued falling around them.
The war was over.
May you like
But Lucas Romano still had one secret left.
And the damaged video was finally ready to be repaired.
