The Master Key to Skylight

Chapter 4 The Shield and the Sacrifice

The next day, wind tore across Lake Michigan while we inspected the new pier. Isabella held her white coat closed with both hands.

Containers and cranes surrounded us, and loose strands of my hair kept catching in my mouth. The cold had cleared the workers from the open concrete.

Alessandro pointed out the loading lanes, the crane reach, and the clear route to open water. I stayed a few paces behind him with one hand near the Glock under my jacket.

I checked the warehouse windows, the gantry, and the gaps between containers. All three were dark.

Then a rifle cracked.

Isabella screamed.

“Sniper! Down!” I shoved Alessandro and Isabella toward the concrete barriers and pulled my Glock. A second flash came from the warehouse window.

Two more shooters opened fire from the west and the gantry. We were boxed in.

Alessandro dragged Isabella behind the barrier and drew his gun. “Cover the west flank!”

I dropped the man at the warehouse window, shifted west, and caught a second shooter as he leaned around a container.

The recoil settled my hands. Alessandro covered my reload, then fired over Isabella’s head while keeping his body in front of hers.

“I’ve got you, baby.” He checked Isabella’s face between shots.

In seven years, he had called me his weapon, his shadow, and his secret. Never baby.

Something dark came over the barrier and struck the concrete between us with a metal click.

A grenade.

Four seconds to detonation. We both knew the timing because we had trained with the same grenades.

Alessandro saw it too. He looked at Isabella first, then at me.

For half a second, I waited for him to move with me as he had in every other fight.

He grabbed my shoulder and shoved me toward the grenade. The same movement drove him backward over Isabella. His shoe struck my hip and sent me another step into the open.

I caught his eyes as I fell. He was already lowering himself over her.

“Alessandro.”

BOOM.

Heat and pressure lifted me from the concrete. I hit the edge of the pier, rolled over it, and fell.

Above me, Alessandro got to his feet and pulled Isabella into his arms. He checked her face, hands, and white coat for blood.

His back was still turned when I struck the water below him.

The lake hit like concrete, and the cold closed over my head.

My coat dragged me down. One leg would not kick, my ribs grated when I moved, and blood passed my face in dark ribbons. The water numbed the burns, but each movement ground my ribs together.

I found the waterproof button on the side of my watch with my thumb. Alessandro had given me the watch for my last birthday after complaining that I was impossible to shop for.

I pressed it.

The watch vibrated once against my wrist.

Far above, the underside of the pier disappeared into black water. Skylight had received my command.