Chapter 7 - The River of Shadows
The rumble of heavy marine engines vibrated through the wooden planks of the dock. Searchlights swept across the water, cutting through the dense mist like white blades.
"Take Leo and get into the hull," Christian ordered, shoving Marcus toward the 40-foot offshore powerboat moored at the end of the pier. "Marcus, take the helm. Get them downriver toward the federal marshals' safe house in Jersey."
"What about you?" Elena grabbed his arm, refusing to step aboard. The rain began to fall, cold and relentless, plastering her dark hair against her cheeks. "You can barely stand!"
"I'm the one they're tracking," Christian said, his breathing shallow and ragged from the fractured ribs. He pulled a heavy tactical radio from Marcus's belt. "The Blackwood syndicate wants the Sterling cryptographic keys stored in my personal biometric implant. If I'm on that boat, they will sink it with heavy caliber rounds before you make the bend. If I stay on the bank, they'll focus on me."
"No!" Elena snapped, her voice fierce and full of authority. She looked down at Leo, who was clinging to her leg, terrified. "I didn't spend three years surviving in that hellhole just to watch you commit suicide on a riverbank. You get on this boat, or none of us leave."
Christian stared at her, caught off guard by the unyielding fire in her hazel eyes.
"We fight together or we die together, Christian," she hissed. "That was our wedding vow. Remember?"
A bullet struck the wooden pylon next to Elena's head, sending splinters flying into the rain.
"Get in!" Marcus roared from the cockpit, firing up the twin high-performance engines. The boat let out a deep, thundering growl.
Christian grabbed Elena's waist and hauled her aboard, tossing Leo into the padded cabin below before leaping onto the deck just as the lead patrol boat opened fire with a mounted machine gun.
Heavy rounds chewed through the fiberglass hull. Marcus slammed the throttles forward. The boat leaped out of the slip like a rocket, throwing a massive wall of spray into the night as the propellers bit into the dark river.
"Mommy!" Leo cried from inside the cabin.
Elena dove down the cabin steps, wrapping her body around the boy on the floorboards as bullets punched neat holes through the cabin roof. "I'm here, Leo! Stay down!"
Up on deck, Christian braced himself against the radar arch, pulling a flare gun from the emergency console. He aimed directly at the lead pursuer’s fuel tank as the patrol boat accelerated to ram them.
"Marcus, hard port on three!" Christian yelled over the deafening roar of the engines. "One... two... THREE!"
Marcus yanked the wheel. The powerboat banked violently to the left, cutting a sharp wake. Christian fired the flare.
The phosphorus projectile streaked through the rain, striking the open fuel vent of the pursuing boat. A blinding flash turned the river bright as day, followed by a violent explosion that lifted the enemy vessel clean out of the water, flipping it into the path of the other two patrol boats.
A chain reaction of crashing metal and burning gasoline illuminated the misty river behind them.
Christian collapsed onto the deck cushions, clutching his chest, gasping for air.
Elena climbed up from the cabin, holding a trembling Leo in one arm. She sat beside Christian, reaching out to wipe blood from his forehead.
"You're crazy," she whispered.
Christian looked at her, his eyes glistening in the red glow of the navigation lights. "I was crazy for three years, Elena. Tonight is the first time I've been sane since the day I lost you."
Before Elena could answer, Marcus's voice cracked with tension from the helm.
"Sir... we have a problem. Look at the bridge ahead."
Elena and Christian turned their eyes downriver. Spanning the entire George Washington Bridge were barricades of police cruisers and federal black SUVs, their flashing blue and red lights completely sealing off the river exits.
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A voice boomed over a long-range maritime loudspeaker from the bridge above:
"Vessel Sterling One, this is the Department of Homeland Security. Cut your engines and prepare to be boarded. Christian Sterling, you are under arrest for treason and the murder of Victoria Sterling."
