Chapter 6 - THE WAREHOUSE CLOCK
Federal agents surrounded the Long Island City warehouse without sirens.
My men entered through the old drainage passage.
Agent Shaw’s team covered the roof and river exits.
I went inside with Tony and Bruno.
Shaw objected.
I told her my dog could identify Marco faster than any facial-recognition system.
That was true.
It was not the only reason.
Elena had trusted Bruno enough to keep recording while adults failed her.
He had earned the right to finish what he started.
The warehouse appeared empty.
Rows of shipping containers stood beneath dim lights.
The countdown on Elena’s file showed forty-two minutes.
Bruno moved between the containers, nose low.
He stopped beside a blue one.
Then he barked.
Tony cut the lock.
Inside were six children.
The youngest looked five.
Their wrists were tied with plastic restraints.
Medical patches covered their necks.
A teenage girl lifted her head.
“They took the others.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“The river.”
Sofia had told the truth about the split operation.
Half the children remained as bait.
The others were already moving toward the ferry.
Agent Shaw ordered her medical unit inside.
Then the warehouse doors slammed shut.
An alarm began sounding.
Gas hissed through the vents.
Tony looked toward the children.
“They are going to burn this place.”
The gas smelled like accelerant.
My men carried the smaller children.
Agents forced open a side loading door.
Bruno ran deeper into the warehouse instead of toward the exit.
“Bruno.”
He ignored me.
Again.
I followed.
He stopped beside an office wall and scratched.
A muffled cry came from behind it.
We broke through the panel.
Four more children were hidden inside.
One wore a school uniform from Elena’s neighborhood.
A timer blinked above them.
Six minutes.
The bomb contained a pressure trigger beneath the floor.
If the children moved, it would detonate.
Agent Shaw’s explosives technician crouched at the doorway.
“I need ten minutes.”
“You have six.”
He examined the wires.
“There is a remote receiver.”
“Someone nearby can trigger it early.”
A security monitor activated.
Victor Harlan appeared.
He sat inside a vehicle overlooking the river.
Marco stood beside him.
“Nico,” Harlan said.
“You brought federal agents into your own house.”
“This is not my house.”
“No.”
“It is your grave.”
Marco looked toward the camera.
His face was bruised.
Sofia had not freed him to save him.
She had sent him back into Harlan’s control.
Harlan continued.
“The ferry leaves in twelve minutes.”
“The bomb goes in five.”
“You can chase the boat.”
“Or stay with the children.”
I heard Sofia’s logic again.
You cannot save both.
I looked at Agent Shaw.
“Go to the ferry.”
She hesitated.
“You?”
“I stay.”
“You are under federal authority.”
“Arrest me after.”
She ordered half her team toward the terminal.
Tony remained with me.
The explosives technician cut the first wire.
The timer accelerated.
Two minutes.
Bruno crawled into the hidden room.
He lay across the pressure plate between the children.
The weight reading stabilized.
The technician looked at me.
“If the dog moves, it detonates.”
I knelt near Bruno.
“Stay.”
His eyes met mine.
He understood.
The children cried around him.
The technician reached for the final circuit.
Then Marco’s voice came through the monitor.
“Boss.”
“I know the disarm code.”
Harlan turned toward him.
Marco smiled weakly.
May you like
“It is Carlo’s birthday.”
Harlan shot him.
