THE SHADOW OF THE ALTAR

Julian didn't wait for Marcus to turn. He vaulted up the iron ladder, swinging over the railing, and fired two precise shots at the snipers stationed near the generators. The men crumpled instantly, their rifles clattering against the wet timber.

Marcus shouted in panic, drawing a gun from his coat, but Clara, driven by sheer terror and desperate instinct, threw her body against Marcus’s arm. The gunshot went wide, echoing harmlessly into the stormy night sky. Marcus backhanded Clara viciously, sending her crashing onto the slick boards, blood welling from her split lip.

Julian advanced, firing steadily, forcing Arthur’s bodyguards to scramble behind the armored SUV doors for cover. "Marcus! Step away from the car!" Julian roared over the wind.

"You don't understand, Julian!" Marcus screamed back, dragging Arthur Vance backward toward the edge of the pier where a high-speed luxury yacht was idling in the dark water below. "Arthur controls our board of directors! If he goes down, Vance-Sterling Corp goes into bankruptcy! Our entire family empire collapses!"

"I don't care about the company!" Julian fired another round, shattering the SUV's wing mirror inches from Marcus's head. "Where is Elena?"

Arthur chuckled, a wet, rattling cough that shook his frail frame. He tapped a small digital detonator strapped to his wrist. "She's where you'll never reach her in time, Julian. Look at the water."

Julian looked past the pier. Anchored fifty yards offshore was an old decommissioned industrial barge, dark and rusting. Red strobe lights suddenly began flashing along its rusted hull—a timed demolition sequence had just been activated.