Chapter 14 - The Hunt on the Docks
Lily did not run back to the sewer. She couldn't.
Crawling out of a rusted side ventilation duct, she hid beneath the wooden decking of Pier 9, just feet above the churning ocean. Through the cracks in the wet planks above, she watched the chaos unfold. Marcus was fighting like a demon, moving between shipping containers, using every shadow and angle to dismantle Clara’s strike team.
Explosions ripped through the night as Marcus lured two vehicles toward the industrial diesel storage tanks, puncturing the lines and detonating them with a well-placed round. The sky turned an apocalyptic orange, casting demonic shadows across the docks.
Lily scrambled along the wooden pilings beneath the pier, inching closer to the luxury yacht. She realized with terrifying clarity: the commuter ferry wouldn't save them. Arthur owned the ports. If she ran into the city, they would track her with municipal facial recognition within minutes.
The only escape route that didn't go through Arthur’s grid was the syndicate’s own vessel.
Above her, heavy boots thudded along the wooden planks. Clara’s voice cut through the gunfire. "Leave Vance to the burn team! Secure the girl! She has to be on the perimeter!"
Lily froze against a wet wooden pylon, holding her breath as Clara walked directly above her.
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Suddenly, a hand reached down through a broken plank above, grabbing Lily by her blonde hair. Lily screamed as she was dragged violently upward through the opening, her knees scraping against the jagged splintered wood.
Clara stood over her, breathing heavily, smoke and soot blackening her designer jacket. In her hand, she held an open taser. "You have caused me thirty million dollars worth of trouble, you little brat," Clara snarled, raising the weapon.
