Chapter 6
1184 Words
The air on Pier 14 the night of smelled salt-rust-and waves slapped calm and silent against wooden posts below. The pier spilled into darkness-a secret, it seemed, only the brave or the broken would ever follow.
Her heels clicked in quiet clatter against the damp planks as Selena walked to the end of the pier, her heart racing so hard in her chest that the tide was well inaudible. Now and then, she cast a glance over her shoulder. Nothing but shadows, and far away, the soft hum of a shipyard.
Jason had instructed her to come alone.
And she did.
The fog hung low, curling around her like smoke. Then she saw him-leaned against a post, half-hidden by the mist. Black coat. Tense shoulders. That same look of quiet danger made her pulse misbehave.
“Right on time,” he said, his voice low, all but lost to the wind.
“Was I supposed to be late?” she said, folding her arms.
A corner of his mouth quivered. “You’ve changed.”
“You almost let me get dragged into a van last night,” she shot back. “I’d say that changes a woman.”
Jason’s face turned crimson. “I didn’t let that happen. I stopped it before they could hurt you.”
A step closer, the waves crashing below them in punctuation marks on a conversation too heavy for words, Selena said, “He sent them, didn’t he, my brother?”
His silence was an answer she didn’t want.
“I heard him,” she continued, shaking her voice. “He said it was supposed to be a warning. Why, Jason? Why would Brad do that?
Jason huffed out an exasperated breath, looking over her head into the fog. “Because he’s spooked. He knows I’m hot on proving the truth about the prototype one he accused me of stealing.
Selena’s breath caught. “You mean the ones that—”
“Ruined my career? Yeah.” His jaw flexed, eyes darkening. “Brad’s partner, Arthur Keane, planted the leak. He sold the design to a foreign investor and blamed me for covering it up. I tried to tell Brad, but he wouldn’t listen. Keane had already filled his head with lies.”
She stared at him, her mind reeling. “So all this time—”
“I was trying to protect what was left of Monroe Innovations,” he said low. “Even after Brad cut me off, I kept tabs on their security systems, their patent archives, because I knew Keane wasn’t finished. When I saw you in that parking lot, I knew Keane’s men. He’s silencing anyone who gets too close.”
Backpedaling, cold realization washed over Selena. “You knew. You knew he might come after me and you didn’t warn me?”
“I couldn’t,” Jason said, his voice hoarse. “Keane’s watching everything. If he suspected I was in contact with you, he’d have gone after you sooner. You weren’t supposed to find out this way.”
The fog swirled around them like ghosts. Selena crossed her arms tighter, her heart in rebellion. “You’re asking me to believe that my brother’s best friend—his business partner—is the real villain?
“I’m asking you to look at facts, not family bondage,” Jason replied, stepping closer until their breath mingled. “You’ve always been the one who saw things clearly, Lena.”
Her heart stuttered to hear her nickname issue from his lips. “Don’t call me that,” she said in a whisper.
His hand lifted belatedly-hesitant, but she stepped out of reach before he could touch her. “I can’t do this, Jason. I can’t choose between you and Brad.”
Jason’s eyes blazed. “You won’t need to pick. The truth will.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small flash drive, the metal glinting under the pier lights. “Everything’s on here-emails, time and date stamps, transfers. Proof that Keane sold the prototype and Brad covered for him.”
Selena faltered. “You’re giving this to me?”
“I trust you more than anybody,” he replied simply. “Still, you must be careful. Keane has his people inside Monroe Innovations, and when they find out you have this, they will go after you, too.”
Before she could answer, a sound sliced through the night air-footsteps, heavy, swift.
Jason’s instinctive hand went to her arm. “Get down.”
They crouched behind a cargo crate as two men materialized at the far end of the pier, their eyes scanning the shadows. Selena made out the build of one-Keane’s security chiefs.
Jason swore under his breath. “He’s early.”
“Early for what?” she whispered.
“I arranged a meet-thinking I could flush Keane out of cover. He sent goons instead.”
The men closed in. Jason’s fingers dug deeper into her arm, his hot breath against her ear. “When I say run, you run to the south dock. There’s a speedboat tied under the last beam. Don’t look back.”
“What about you?”
He gave her that small, wild smile that always terrified and thrilled her. “I’ve survived worse.”
Then he moved. Quick, precise, silent.
The next few seconds blurred. A scuffle. The crack of wood. The thud of a body hitting the pier. Selena ducked as one of the men shouted and fired—a flash of light, a sharp whine of a bullet cutting through the air.
Jason seized her hand. “Now!”
They ran. The pier shook under their feet, the sea roaring below. The wind whipped her hair into her face as they sprinted toward the south dock. Another gunshot echoed. Jason yanked her behind a stack of barrels just as splinters flew where her head had been.
“Jason—”
“Don’t stop!” he yelped, tugging her toward the boat.
They jumped aboard, the hull rocking as Jason untied the rope and hit the ignition. The engine sputtered, then roared to life.
Bullets sparked against the water behind them as the boat shot forward into fog. Selena clung to the railing, her heart beating like thunder. Jason’s jaw was set, eyes fixed ahead.
When they were finally far enough, he slowed the speed of the boat. Silence swallowed the night once more, broken only by the waves.
Selena turned to him, shaking. “You could’ve died.”
Jason looked at her, a half-smile tugging at his lips. “So could you.”
Something in her cracked open-the fear, the confusion, the years of resentment. They stood there, faces inches apart, the night pressing around them like a secret.
“Why are you still doing this?” she whispered. “After everything my brother did to you?” He really looked at her then, and the answer came softly. “Because it was never about him. It was all about you.” The wind blows away his words, but they leave him deep enough in scar.
- Writer
