Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT BOSTON HARBOR BECAME A GRAVEYARD
Nathaniel refused to let me go.
Daniel did too.
That was when I lost my temper.
“My mother is there.”
“Emma,” Nathaniel said.
“No.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Julian wants us.”
“He has my mother because of me.”
“He has her because of him.”
Daniel pointed toward Nathaniel.
Nathaniel ignored the insult.
“He also knows you matter to both of us.”
I stared.
Both.
Nobody acknowledged that word.
“We’re not giving him another hostage,” Nathaniel said.
“I’m not staying behind while everyone decides what happens to my family.”
Nathaniel’s jaw tightened.
Then something changed.
He looked at Daniel.
Daniel sighed.
“She always wins these arguments.”
I almost hit him again.
Nathaniel looked back at me.
“Fine.”
That surprised me.
“But you stay with state police. You do exactly what they tell you.”
“Agreed.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You’re letting her go?”
“No.”
Nathaniel’s voice remained calm.
“She’s going whether I like it or not. I can either help her do it safely or become one more man who thinks love gives him authority.”
I looked at him.
Daniel did too.
Something passed between them.
Old rivalry.
Recognition.
Maybe respect.
The harbor was black and cold.
Wind moved off the water hard enough to sting my face.
Julian chose an abandoned Caldwell shipping terminal near East Boston.
Perfect.
Old family property.
Minimal cameras.
Multiple access routes.
State police established a perimeter.
Federal agents joined because the ledger implicated federal crimes.
Nathaniel looked deeply unhappy about them.
He cooperated anyway.
That mattered.
Julian stood on the dock beneath an overhead light.
My mother sat in a chair beside him.
Her hands were tied.
A gun rested against her shoulder.
She looked furious rather than frightened.
That was my mother.
Julian held Maisie’s blue music box in his other hand.
Nathaniel walked forward.
Daniel beside him.
I remained forty yards away behind an armored vehicle.
Julian smiled.
“Family reunion.”
Nathaniel stopped.
“Let her go.”
“Bring the watch.”
Nathaniel held it up.
“And the flash drive?”
Daniel lifted it.
Julian’s smile widened.
“All these years.”
Daniel said, “You killed Caleb for information you never even had.”
Julian’s smile vanished.
“I killed Caleb because he was weak.”
Nathaniel’s face changed.
“He trusted you.”
“He pitied me.”
“You were family.”
Julian laughed.
“Family is just business where people feel entitled to forgiveness.”
I saw Nathaniel absorb that.
Julian continued.
“Caleb got everything first. Respect. position. your uncle’s trust.”
Nathaniel frowned.
“You weren’t even in line.”
“Exactly.”
The rage in Julian’s voice sounded old.
Childhood old.
“He treated me like a nephew. A boy. A dependent.”
“He paid for your education.”
“He controlled me.”
“You stole from him.”
“I built what he was too sentimental to build.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You sold people.”
Julian looked at him.
“And you should have died on that highway.”
My chest tightened.
Daniel didn’t react.
Nathaniel stepped forward.
“Take the evidence.”
He placed the watch on the ground.
Daniel added the flash drive.
Julian looked toward my mother.
“Bring them closer.”
Nathaniel obeyed.
My mother suddenly shouted.
“Emma!”
I moved instinctively.
A trooper caught my arm.
Julian smiled toward me.
“There she is.”
Nathaniel looked back.
“No.”
Julian’s gun shifted toward my mother.
“Emma comes forward.”
Nathaniel’s entire body hardened.
“Not happening.”
“Then Margaret dies.”
My mother shouted, “Don’t you dare!”
I almost laughed from terror.
Of course she would say that.
Daniel looked toward me.
I already knew.
He shook his head.
I stepped from behind the vehicle.
Nathaniel swore.
“Emma.”
“Let my mother go.”
Julian smiled.
“Daniel always did choose brave women.”
Daniel’s face twisted.
I walked slowly.
Twenty yards.
Fifteen.
Ten.
Nathaniel moved slightly toward me.
Julian raised the gun.
“Stay.”
Nathaniel stopped.
I reached the edge of the dock.
“Now let her go.”
Julian laughed.
“You think this is a negotiation?”
“No.”
That confused him.
I continued.
“I think you’ve already lost.”
His smile vanished.
“Federal agents have the copy.”
He looked at Daniel.
Daniel’s expression changed.
I was bluffing.
Mostly.
But Julian didn’t know.
“The evidence is duplicated,” I said.
“That’s impossible.”
“Caleb was smarter than you.”
Julian’s face twisted.
I saw it.
The same thing every arrogant man did when forced to confront the possibility that he had been outplayed.
He looked toward the watch.
Toward the drive.
Then toward Daniel.
That second of distraction was enough.
My mother slammed her heel backward into his shin.
Julian cursed.
Nathaniel moved.
Gunfire exploded.
I dropped.
Daniel lunged toward my mother.
Nathaniel hit Julian from the side.
The gun skidded across wet concrete.
Police shouted.
Julian punched Nathaniel.
Nathaniel hit him back.
Hard.
They crashed against the railing.
Julian pulled a knife.
Daniel saw it.
“Nate!”
Nathaniel turned too late.
Julian drove the blade into his side.
I screamed.
Nathaniel staggered.
Julian raised the knife again.
Daniel tackled him.
All three men hit the ground.
Police rushed forward.
My mother crawled toward me.
I ran to her.
“You’re okay.”
“So are you.”
She grabbed my face.
“Maisie?”
“Safe.”
Thank God.
Behind us, Nathaniel rolled onto his back.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Everything inside me stopped.
“Nathaniel.”
I left my mother with an officer and ran.
Daniel had Julian pinned while police handcuffed him.
I dropped beside Nathaniel.
His eyes were open.
“You’re crying.”
“Shut up.”
He almost smiled.
“Bossy.”
“Don’t move.”
“I’ve been stabbed before.”
“That is not comforting.”
His hand found mine.
Cold.
Too cold.
Paramedics pushed me aside.
I refused to go far.
Julian screamed as police dragged him away.
“You think this changes anything?”
Nathaniel looked toward him from the stretcher.
Julian continued.
“You’re still a Caldwell.”
Nathaniel’s face became calm.
“Yes.”
Julian laughed.
“Then you’ll become exactly what Caleb feared.”
Nathaniel stared at him.
Then looked at me.
My mother.
Daniel.
The flashing lights.
Federal agents carrying the evidence that could expose half of Nathaniel’s world.
He could have ordered men to destroy it.
Run.
Kill Julian before trial.
Protect the empire.
Instead, Nathaniel looked at the federal agent nearest him.
“The watch contains names.”
The agent stared.
Nathaniel continued.
“My attorney will arrange full access.”
Julian stopped laughing.
Daniel looked stunned.
Nathaniel was loaded into the ambulance.
I climbed in.
Nobody stopped me.
As the doors closed, Nathaniel whispered, “Happy birthday to me.”
I laughed through tears.
“You have terrible birthdays.”
His eyes drifted shut.
I tightened my grip on his hand.
“Stay awake.”
“Why?”
“Because Maisie still owes you cake.”
His mouth moved faintly.
“Good reason.”
Then the monitor alarm changed.
A paramedic shouted.
May you like
Nathaniel’s hand went limp in mine.
And suddenly the man who had looked abandoned in a restaurant less than twenty-four hours earlier was fighting for his life while I begged him not to leave a table that had somehow become ours.
