Chapter 11 - TITAN’S TRAIL
Titan moved through the hotel like he had done it a hundred times.
Kitchen.
Loading corridor.
Laundry room.
Basement.
Roman followed with two loyal guards.
I followed because apparently I had completely lost my sense of self-preservation.
We reached a maintenance door.
Locked.
Titan scratched it.
Roman shot the lock.
I stared at him.
“You couldn’t kick it?”
“This was faster.”
“You’re paying for the door.”
“I own the hotel.”
“I hate that answer.”
The passage beyond led to an old service tunnel under the block.
Luca’s voice came through our earpieces.
“Bomb squad has the device. Timer was fake.”
Roman stopped.
“Fake?”
“Mostly. Small explosive charge. Enough smoke and noise to cause panic, not collapse the building.”
“A funnel.”
“Yes.”
They wanted people running.
Predictable exits.
Predictable chaos.
Roman cursed.
Titan kept moving.
At the end of the tunnel, we emerged near the waterfront.
Rain had started again.
A black SUV waited beside a warehouse.
Pier 9.
My body went cold.
“No.”
Roman looked at the building.
“The old warehouse?”
“It was rebuilt after the fire.”
Titan pulled forward.
I couldn’t move.
For fifteen years, I had driven around this part of Boston.
Never past it.
Never close.
My father died here.
Roman touched my shoulder.
“You don’t have to go in.”
I looked at him.
“Neither do you.”
“Yes, I do.”
“So do I.”
We entered.
Empty floor.
Rusting beams.
Water dripping somewhere in the dark.
Titan sniffed.
Then barked.
A light snapped on.
Adrian Vale stood on a metal catwalk above us.
Gun in hand.
Malcolm was not with him.
“You should’ve left the dog in the street,” Vale said.
Roman raised his weapon.
“Where’s Malcolm?”
Vale laughed.
“So you figured it out.”
“Where is he?”
“Probably giving interviews about how devastated he is by the attack on his nephew.”
My stomach turned.
Roman’s face remained hard.
“Did he order Pier 9?”
Vale looked at me.
“Ask your little shopkeeper.”
I stepped forward.
“You knew my father?”
“No.”
“Did Malcolm kill him?”
Vale smiled.
“Malcolm didn’t light the match.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“Who did?”
Vale looked at him.
“Your COO.”
“Declan Shaw?”
Vale nodded.
“Back then he was a twenty-five-year-old nobody who wanted Malcolm’s approval.”
I felt sick.
“Why?”
“Your father found cargo manifests. Bribes. Chemicals. Money laundering. He wouldn’t take cash.”
Vale shrugged.
“Principled men are expensive.”
I wanted to tear him apart.
Roman asked, “And Owen?”
Vale’s smile faded.
“Owen made the same mistake.”
“Where is his body?”
Vale glanced toward the dark water outside.
That was answer enough.
Titan growled.
Vale raised his gun.
“Control your dog.”
I said, “You first.”
Vale aimed at me.
Roman stepped directly in front of the barrel.
“Shoot her and you die before she hits the floor.”
Vale laughed softly.
“That’s interesting.”
“What?”
“You care.”
Roman’s voice dropped.
“Try me.”
Vale backed toward a staircase.
“You still think Malcolm is the biggest problem.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
Vale smiled.
“He never had the nerve to build this alone.”
Roman said, “Who else?”
Vale’s smile widened.
May you like
“The person standing beside him right now.”
A gun cocked behind us.
