Chapter 16 - The Fall of Marcus Reed
Adrian slammed into Marcus.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Marcus struck him across the jaw.
Adrian grabbed his wrist.
They crashed into a plastic barrier.
Lily cried several feet away.
Adrian heard nothing else.
Marcus drove a knee into his ribs.
Adrian staggered.
Marcus swung again.
Adrian blocked him.
Fifteen years of friendship disappeared into thirty seconds of violence.
Marcus grabbed the gun from the floor.
Adrian kicked it away.
It slid beneath a steel beam.
Marcus lunged toward the crib.
Adrian caught him from behind.
They hit the concrete.
Marcus laughed breathlessly.
“Look at you.”
“Still pretending you’re different.”
Adrian pinned his arm.
“I am.”
“You think one prosecutor washes your hands clean?”
“No.”
Adrian tightened his grip.
“It means I finally stopped lying about them being dirty.”
Marcus twisted free.
He ran toward the outer construction platform.
Adrian followed.
Wind tore through the unfinished floor.
Rain blew sideways.
Marcus reached the edge.
Forty-seven stories below, Chicago glittered.
Police lights appeared around the tower.
Marcus looked down.
Then back at Adrian.
“Tell them to leave.”
“No.”
Marcus smiled.
“You won’t let them take me.”
“Yes, I will.”
“You know what I know.”
“I don’t care.”
“You know what I’ll say.”
“Say everything.”
Marcus’s smile vanished.
Adrian stepped closer.
“That’s the difference between us.”
“I’m finished protecting the Vale name.”
Marcus looked toward the edge.
For one terrible moment, Adrian thought he would jump.
Instead, Marcus reached inside his coat.
Adrian froze.
Marcus pulled out a small remote.
“One button.”
Adrian stared.
Marcus smiled.
“There are explosives beneath this floor.”
“If I go down, Vale Tower goes with me.”
Rebecca’s voice crackled faintly through Adrian’s transmitter.
“Do not move.”
Marcus held his thumb above the switch.
“You destroyed the empire.”
“I’ll destroy the monument.”
Adrian looked past him.
Then he saw Thomas Kane appear silently from the stairwell.
Marcus did not.
Adrian kept his eyes forward.
“What do you want?”
Marcus laughed.
“An exit.”
Thomas moved closer.
“A helicopter.”
Another step.
“Ten million transferred.”
Another.
“And immunity.”
Adrian almost smiled.
“You always did ask for too much.”
Marcus frowned.
Thomas struck from behind.
The remote flew from Marcus’s hand.
Adrian caught it.
Marcus spun.
Thomas hit him again.
Police surged onto the floor.
Marcus was forced to the ground.
Handcuffs closed around his wrists.
For the first time in fifteen years, Marcus Reed had no one left to command.
He looked up at Adrian.
“This isn’t over.”
Adrian walked toward Lily.
“For you?”
He lifted his daughter from the crib.
“It is.”
Lily stopped crying almost immediately.
Her tiny fingers touched his face.
Adrian closed his eyes.
Behind him, Marcus screamed threats.
Adrian did not turn around.
May you like
He had finally found something more important than revenge.
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