Chapter 9 - The River Pursuit
The roar of the boat's twin V8 engines echoed across the choppy black waters of the East River as Jax opened the throttle to full speed.
The rain was falling in blinding sheets, turning the Manhattan skyline into a ghostly collection of glowing windows in the distance.
Behind them, two black high-speed interceptor craft burst out from under the Manhattan Bridge, their searchlights cutting through the dark fog.
Bullets splashed into the water around their hull, white spray spraying over the windshield as Jax maneuvered through the current.
"Hold on!" Jax shouted to Maya, slamming the throttle forward to cut across the wake of a massive cargo ship heading out to sea.
Maya leaned over the stern, firing her remaining rounds at the searchlight of the lead interceptor, shattering the glass bulb in a flash of sparks.
The blinded interceptor veered wildly to the left, crashing directly into the side of an iron barge anchored in the channel.
A fireball erupted into the night sky, illuminating the river in a dramatic orange flash before the wreck sank beneath the waves.
Jax steered their boat into the narrow, dark channels of the New Jersey shipping yards, killing the engines near an abandoned crane dock.
The boat drifted silently into the shadows of the dock pillars, hiding them completely from the second searching vessel.
Maya collapsed against the vinyl seat, gasping for air as her hands finally let go of the rifle grip.
"We lost them," she wheezed out, looking up at the rain pouring down from the dark sky.
May you like
Jax looked at her, his face covered in river spray and soot, his eyes burning with an unshakeable determination.
"We didn't lose them, Maya," Jax corrected her softly. "We just gave ourselves time to go on the offensive."
