Chapter 10 - Inside the Warehouse
The interior of Pier 4 was a cavernous expanse of shadows, rusted girders, and towering stacks of wooden crates. The only light came from a single overhead halogen lamp swinging gently from a frayed cord in the center of the concrete floor, casting erratic, dancing shadows across the cavernous space.
"Leo! Lily!" Elena called out, her voice echoing off the corrugated metal walls before Jenkins clamped a firm hand over her mouth.
"Quiet," Jenkins whispered fiercely. "You want to give away our position before we even know where they are?"
Elena nodded, trembling violently as Jenkins released her. David swept his gaze across the vast warehouse, his heart hammering against his ribs. Near the center, beneath the swinging halogen light, two small figures were tied to wooden chairs. Leo’s dark hair was matted with sweat and rain, his head slumped forward as if he had been drugged or exhausted from crying. Little Lily was resting awkwardly in his lap, her tiny frame shaking under a oversized woolen blanket.
"My babies," Elena choked out, taking a frantic step forward before David grabbed her arm, pulling her behind a stack of wooden pallets.
"Wait," David hissed. "Look by the crane."
Standing about twenty feet behind the children was a tall, immaculately dressed man in a charcoal business suit. Despite the damp, freezing warehouse, his suit looked freshly pressed, and his silver-streaked hair was neatly combed. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking down at the children with clinical detachment.
"Thomas," the man said smoothly, his voice carrying effortlessly across the cavernous space without needing to be raised. "I wondered how long it would take you to find your way here. Though I must admit, I expected you to run a little further."
David stepped out from behind the pallets, keeping his hands visible at his sides. "Mr. Sterling. I should have known you were the one pulling the strings."
The man smiled thinly, turning to face him. Arthur Sterling, former CEO of Sterling Real Estate and the mastermind behind a multi-million-dollar embezzlement network that spanned three continents. "You always were perceptive, Thomas. That's why you were such a valuable accountant. And why you were such a dangerous liability when the federal grand jury started looking at our books."
"Let the children go, Sterling," David demanded, taking another step forward. "They have nothing to do with this. The ledger is right here on this phone. Take it and let them go."
Sterling chuckled softly, walking slowly toward the bound children. He reached down and gently touched Leo's shoulder, making the little boy stir and whimper in his sleep. "Oh, I'll take the phone, Thomas. But the ledger was only ever an insurance policy. What I really want is the key to the Swiss account you set up under Marcus’s name before you staged that little barbecue in New York."
Marcus stepped out from the shadows beside David, his pistol raised and aimed squarely at Sterling’s chest. "Looking for this, Artie?"
Sterling didn't even flinch. He simply raised his right hand, and from the catwalks high above the warehouse floor, the red laser dots of three sniper rifles instantly painted Marcus, Jenkins, and David across their chests.
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"I wouldn't do that, Marcus," Sterling said, his smile never reaching his eyes. "My men have had you in their crosshairs since you walked through the front door of this warehouse."
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