Chapter 9 - BRUNO IN THE WATER
We opened every locked compartment.
Twenty-one children were aboard.
Some were sedated.
Some were conscious enough to move.
The second explosion had torn through the engine room.
Water filled the lowest deck.
Federal boats approached, but the ferry leaned too sharply for safe transfer.
Tony and Angela led children toward the upper rail.
I went below with Bruno.
The water reached my knees.
Then my waist.
A girl cried from behind a jammed steel door.
Bruno scratched at it.
I fired into the lock.
The door opened inward under the pressure.
Three children floated inside wearing life jackets.
A boy remained trapped beneath a fallen shelf.
Bruno swam toward him.
I lifted the metal.
The dog caught the boy’s jacket and pulled him free.
We moved toward the stairs.
A gunshot sounded above.
Then another.
Sofia stood near the lifeboat controls holding Angela at gunpoint.
She had recovered Harlan’s files from a hidden compartment.
Tony aimed at her.
“Put them down.”
“I spent twelve years building this network.”
“You spent twelve years selling children.”
“I built power.”
“You built evidence.”
Agent Shaw boarded from the federal boat.
Her weapon pointed toward Sofia.
“You are surrounded.”
Sofia looked at me.
“You would let them arrest me?”
“Yes.”
“I am your sister.”
“You stopped being protected by that word when Elena entered the street.”
Her face twisted.
“You think Carlo was innocent?”
“He planned to overthrow you.”
“He was going to give the federal government every account.”
“Then he was braver than I was.”
She looked toward the children climbing over the rail.
“You will go to prison beside me.”
“I know.”
That answer took away her final weapon.
Sofia ran toward the lifeboat.
Bruno blocked her.
She fired.
The bullet struck his side.
He fell into the water.
I heard myself shout.
Sofia reached the rail.
I tackled her.
The files flew from her hand and scattered across the deck.
Agent Shaw secured her wrists.
I jumped into the river.
Bruno disappeared beneath the dark water.
The ferry tilted above me.
Oil spread across the surface.
Then a black shape broke through.
Bruno paddled weakly.
I caught his collar and pulled him toward the federal boat.
Agents lifted him aboard.
Blood ran through his wet fur.
The medic pressed bandages against his side.
“He’s losing blood.”
“Save him.”
“We need to evacuate the ferry.”
“Save him.”
The medic looked at Agent Shaw.
She nodded.
They worked while rescue crews moved the children.
The last child left the ferry seconds before it rolled onto its side.
It sank slowly beneath the bridge.
Sofia watched from the patrol boat in handcuffs.
Angela sat beside her.
Tony held Marco’s two sons after agents located them in a safe apartment listed inside Sofia’s phone.
They were frightened but alive.
The medic looked up from Bruno.
“The bullet passed through.”
“He needs surgery.”
“Will he live?”
“If we move now.”
Bruno opened his eyes.
His head moved toward the rescued children.
Even bleeding, he was counting them.
I placed my hand against his face.
“You heard her.”
“You found them.”
May you like
His tail struck the floor once.
Then his eyes closed.
