Chapter 7 - The Sniper's Cross
Marcus froze, his hand hovering over the leather folder as the red laser dot burned steadily into the center of his forehead. From the shadows of the adjacent skyscraper’s water tower, the faint metallic click of a high-caliber sniper rifle echoing across the rooftop confirmed they were no longer alone.
"Drop the tablet, Marcus," Daniel commanded, his voice dropping an octave into a tone of absolute authority.
Marcus let out a nervous chuckle, though his eyes darted frantically toward the dark skyline. "You think a sniper scares me, Daniel? My men have your little girl wired to a dead-man's switch. If my heart stops beating before sunrise, the warehouse goes up in flames."
Ivy gasped, stepping forward. "You bastard! She's a child!"
"She's a loose end, just like her mother," Marcus sneered, his composure returning as he realized he still held the upper hand. He snatched the leather folder from Daniel's grip anyway, tucking it under his arm. "Thanks for the shares, little brother. Consider this payment for stealing what was rightfully mine."
Before Daniel could signal the sniper, Marcus stepped backward off the edge of the roof into the open door of a hovering drone-controlled escape pod, disappearing into the dark sky before the rifle could track his trajectory.
The red laser dot vanished. The wind howled louder over the empty helipad.
"Daniel, we have to go. Now," Ivy urged, grabbing his arm, her eyes burning with fierce determination. "We track that signal from the tablet. Marcus left it active for three seconds too long."
Daniel looked down at the ground where Marcus had dropped a small, encrypted tracking beacon during the scuffle. A grim, satisfied smile touched the corner of his lips.
"He wanted me to think he won," Daniel said, picking up the beacon. "He didn't realize I planted a military-grade tracer in the folder's binding."
Within minutes, they were inside Daniel’s armored private SUV, tearing through the rain-slicked streets of downtown Manhattan. The digital dashboard displayed a blinking red dot moving steadily toward the abandoned industrial shipyard on Pier 54—the exact location where Sterling Enterprises used to unload its international cargo before the hostile takeover five years ago.
As the SUV screeched to a halt outside the rusted iron gates of the warehouse, Ivy unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Wait," Daniel cautioned, pulling his weapon and checking the magazine. "This is a trap. Eleanor and Arthur are likely inside waiting for us."
"I don't care who's inside," Ivy said, her eyes flashing with a cold, protective fire as she grabbed a heavy iron wrench from the floorboard. "They took my daughter. I’m going to tear this place apart brick by brick."
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They kicked open the rotting wooden doors of the warehouse, stepping into a cavernous, dimly lit space filled with stacked shipping containers—and sitting tied to a chair in the center was Lily, surrounded not by guards, but by Eleanor and Arthur Vanderbilt holding a glowing detonator.
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