Chapter 9 - The Lethal Exchange
Norah stared at the video feed in absolute, paralyzing horror.
Rosa was weeping silently, a gag tied tightly around her mouth.
"What do you want, Silas?" Arthur demanded, his voice radiating pure, unadulterated hatred.
"I want you to walk into the abandoned shipyard on Pier 4 completely unarmed," Silas replied smoothly.
"And I want you to bring the ledger you stole from Dominic's man."
"If you don't arrive in thirty minutes, Rosa gets blown to pieces."
The line went completely dead.
Arthur threw the phone aggressively against the wall, shattering it into pieces.
"We can't do it," Arthur stated grimly, pacing the room.
"I don't have the ledger, and walking in unarmed is absolute suicide."
Norah stood up, her hands balled into tight, shaking fists.
"I have the ledger," Norah confessed, her voice surprisingly steady.
"I hid it inside a loose brick behind the basement incinerator."
Arthur stopped pacing and stared at her in utter disbelief.
He realized she had possessed the most dangerous item in the city this entire time.
"We are going to use it," Arthur decided, quickly formulating a desperate plan.
They drove back to the estate, sneaking in through a compromised service entrance.
Norah retrieved the scorched black notebook from the basement while Arthur heavily armed himself with hidden weapons.
They arrived at the abandoned shipyard with only five minutes to spare.
Silas was waiting in the center of the dark warehouse, completely surrounded by dozens of heavily armed mercenaries.
Rosa was tied to a steel pillar, the bomb strapped to her chest ticking ominously.
"Toss the ledger over here," Silas demanded, aiming his weapon directly at Arthur's head.
Arthur slowly pulled the black notebook from his jacket and tossed it onto the concrete floor.
Silas smiled triumphantly and bent down to pick it up.
"Kill them both," Silas ordered his men casually.
Arthur didn't hesitate for a single second.
He activated a hidden flashbang grenade he had palmed in his hand and dropped it at his feet.
A blinding white light and deafening boom filled the warehouse, completely disorienting the mercenaries.
Arthur drew his dual pistols and unleashed an absolute torrent of deadly accurate gunfire.
Norah sprinted through the chaos, completely ignoring the bullets whizzing past her head.
She reached Rosa and frantically used a pocketknife to cut the thick ropes binding her to the chair.
Suddenly, Silas emerged from the smoke, his face twisted in pure, homicidal rage.
He raised his gun, aiming it squarely at Rosa's back.
Norah didn't think; she simply reacted.
She pulled a small, backup pistol Arthur had given her from her pocket.
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She pulled the trigger without hesitation, shooting Silas directly in the center of his chest.
Silas gasped in shock, dropping his weapon and collapsing heavily onto the cold concrete floor.
