Chapter 17 - The Fire on the Water
"Give the man a prize," the gunman said, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Julian gets the money, the feds get a tragic warehouse fire that closes the twenty-year-old investigation, and the Whitmore line ends tonight."
The gunman fired.
The silenced round whipped past Daniel’s ear, splintering the oak support beam behind him. Daniel threw himself sideways into a pile of rotting canvas sails, returning fire. Two deafening gunshots echoed through the cavernous boathouse, the muzzle flashes blinding the darkness.
The gunman grunted as one of Daniel’s rounds clipped his shoulder, causing him to drop the leather ledger onto the slick wooden deck. He retreated behind the steel fuel tanks, firing blind through the wooden partition.
Above them, the catwalk groaned under the shockwaves of gunfire. Lauren was thrashing wildly, trying to kick herself away from the iron post.
Daniel crawled behind a stack of wooden crates, his breathing ragged. He had three rounds left in his magazine. The gunman was professional, armored, and had the detonator in his hand.
"Daniel, you can't save her!" the gunman yelled over the roar of the storm. "Look at the timer!"
Daniel glanced at the metallic drum in the boat slip. A digital display was counting down from forty-five seconds.
*00:44... 00:43... 00:42...*
"Lauren! Hold on!" Daniel shouted.
Abandoning his cover, Daniel lunged across the open platform, scooping up the fallen ledger with one hand and firing his remaining three rounds directly through the sheet-metal tank where the gunman hid.
A heavy groan followed. The gunman stumbled out from behind the tank, clutching his neck as blood welled through his fingers. He dropped his weapon and fell forward onto the deck, unmoving.
*00:28... 00:27...*
Daniel didn't check the body. He sprinted up the rickety wooden stairs toward the catwalk. The old wood splintered beneath his weight, nearly giving way. He reached the upper platform, pulled a folding utility knife from his pocket, and slashed through the heavy zip ties binding Lauren’s wrists.
He ripped the duct tape from her mouth.
"Daniel, go!" Lauren screamed, coughing violently, her wrists raw and bleeding. "The drum is filled with industrial accelerant! It'll level the whole dock!"
"I am not leaving you behind again!" Daniel yelled, grabbing her arm and hauling her to her feet. "Move!"
*00:12... 00:11...*
They scrambled down the shaking staircase. Lauren stumbled, her legs weak from hours of confinement. Daniel caught her, throwing her arm over his shoulder and carrying half her weight.
They reached the boathouse exit just as the timer reached *00:03*.
"Jump!" Daniel roared.
They threw themselves out the splintered doorway into the mud just as the structure exploded behind them.
A massive wall of orange fire and concussive heat erupted into the night sky, blowing out the remaining walls of the boathouse and showering the marsh with burning timber and twisted metal. The force of the blast sent Daniel and Lauren flying into the swollen creek bank, rolling down the muddy incline toward the surging black water.
Daniel hit the water first, his head slamming against a submerged log. Darkness threatened to pull him under, the roar of the river drowning out all sound. But a pair of small, trembling hands grabbed the collar of his coat, hauling his head above the current.
It was Lauren.
Gasping for air, crying through the soot on her face, she dragged her brother up onto the muddy shore, coughing up river water.
Behind them, the boathouse burned like a towering funeral pyre in the storm.
"I have the ledger," Daniel choked out, his hand clutching the soaked leather book tucked inside his jacket.
Lauren looked down at him, her eyes wide with terror. "Daniel... it doesn't matter. Julian didn't stay at the house."
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Daniel froze, wiping river silt from his eyes. "What?"
"Julian only came to the house to keep you distracted," Lauren sobbed, her voice breaking. "He found out Emily left with the children. His men followed her car."
