Chapter 6 - The Harbor of Shadows
The industrial harbor on the east side of the city was a labyrinth of rust-colored shipping containers, towering gantry cranes, and slick, rain-drenched gravel pits. Thick ocean fog rolled off the bay, reducing visibility to less than thirty yards.
Daniel drove his unmarked police cruiser through the rusted iron gates of Container Terminal 4, shutting off his sirens and headlights two blocks early.
"Central," Marcus whispered into his radio, "we are on scene at Terminal 4. Requesting tactical SWAT backup immediately."
"Copy, Unit 4. SWAT team ETA is twelve minutes," the dispatcher replied.
"We don't have twelve minutes," Daniel said, unholstering his Glock 17 and checking the chamber. "If they put that little girl inside a sealed cargo container on an outbound freighter, we’ll never find her."
They stepped out into the mist, their boots making no sound on the damp gravel.
The terminal was quiet except for the rhythmic thump-thump-thump of a massive diesel generator running near the water's edge. Row after row of stacked steel containers towered thirty feet above them like giant tombs.
Daniel signaled with his hand, moving left down a dark corridor between two rows of containers, while Marcus flanked right.
Fifty yards ahead, parked under the looming shadow of a yellow gantry crane, sat the grey delivery van. Its engine was still warm, tailpipe smoking faintly in the damp air.
Beside the van stood two men in dark tactical jackets. One of them was the man Eleanor had described—tall, broad-shouldered, with a jagged white scar running from his jawline to his left ear.
Beside him stood Richard Sterling, wearing a clear plastic raincoat over his charcoal suit, holding a glowing satellite phone to his ear.
"I don't care about the police blockades!" Sterling was shouting into the phone, his voice laced with venomous panic. "Get the vessel decoupled from the pier! We load the child onto the Panamanian freighter now, or we all spend the rest of our lives in maximum security!"
Inside a half-open shipping container ten feet behind Sterling, Daniel caught a glimpse of a small form tied to a wooden chair.
It was Lily. Her mouth was taped shut, her small eyes wide with terror as she watched the men argue.
Daniel felt a white-hot fury ignite in his chest, but he forced himself to remain disciplined. He raised his radio and tapped the microphone twice—the signal for Marcus to take the guard on the right.
"Sterling!" Daniel shouted, stepping out from behind a red container into the open space, his weapon raised and locked onto Sterling's chest. "POLICE! DROP YOUR WEAPON!"
Sterling spun around, his phone slipping from his fingers and smashing onto the gravel.
The scarred man moved with terrifying speed, drawing a suppressed automatic pistol from beneath his jacket and firing two quick shots.
THWIP! THWIP!
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The bullets kicked up gravel at Daniel’s feet. Daniel dove behind a steel support beam as Marcus opened fire from the right flank, his shots echoing loudly across the metallic maze of the shipyard.
"KILL HIM!" Sterling shrieked, backing away toward the open container where Lily was held. "KILL THEM BOTH!"
