Chapter 8: The price of power
The tunnel shook as another explosion echoed through the underground complex.
Dust poured from the ceiling.
Emma screamed.
Mara grabbed her hand tighter.
“Keep moving!”
The women stumbled through the narrow passage, some barefoot, some barely able to walk. One of them, a woman in her forties with a swollen ankle, collapsed against the wall.
“I can’t.”
Mara dropped to her knees.
“Yes, you can.”
“They’ll catch us.”
“No.”
Mara looked directly into her eyes.
“They’ve already stolen enough from you.”
Two of Adrian’s men lifted the woman gently, and the group continued toward the river exit.
Behind them, gunfire thundered through the tunnels.
Every shot sounded closer.
Meanwhile, Adrian fired twice and rolled behind a concrete support pillar as bullets tore through the control room.
Nolan moved with surprising discipline.
He wasn’t simply a wealthy man with bodyguards.
He had trained.
He understood angles, cover, and timing.
“You’re better than I expected,” Nolan called out.
Adrian reloaded calmly.
“You’re worse.”
Nolan laughed.
“That’s what makes me successful.”
A flash grenade exploded near the doorway.
Adrian shielded his face and pushed forward through the smoke.
Nolan retreated into a side corridor.
Adrian followed.
The hallway led toward the private elevator.
Nolan was trying to reach the surface.
Adrian couldn’t allow it.
Dominic’s voice came through the radio.
“We have the women.”
“How many?”
“Twelve.”
“Mara?”
“She’s with us.”
Relief lasted less than a second.
Then Dominic shouted,
“Contact!”
The radio filled with gunfire.
“They’ve cut off the river exit!”
Adrian stopped running.
“How many?”
“At least fifteen.”
Fifteen.
Nolan had expected a rescue.
This entire facility was a trap.
Adrian turned back.
The elevator could wait.
His people could not.
At the river tunnel, chaos erupted.
Armed men flooded through the exit from hidden boats.
Mara pulled Emma behind a stack of supply crates.
One of Adrian’s guards went down immediately.
Dominic returned fire with controlled precision.
“We need another route!”
“There isn’t one,” Mara shouted.
“There has to be!”
She looked desperately around the tunnel.
Then she remembered.
“The drainage channel!”
“What?”
“It floods during storms.”
She pointed toward a rusted maintenance grate.
“It leads outside.”
“It’s too small.”
“For one person.”
Mara shook her head.
“They widened it.”
“How do you know?”
She looked sick.
“Because I crawled through it once.”
Dominic understood immediately.
“Get the women moving.”
The grate was opened with explosives.
Cold river water rushed through the narrow channel.
The women crawled into darkness one by one.
Emma looked at Mara.
“Are you coming?”
“Yes.”
A burst of gunfire forced everyone back.
The attackers were advancing rapidly.
Dominic looked at the remaining women.
“Go!”
Mara stayed behind.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping you.”
He looked at her.
“Mara.”
“I’m not running while people die for me.”
Before he could argue, Adrian appeared through the smoke.
He fired with terrifying accuracy, forcing the attackers into cover.
“Move!”
Mara grabbed Emma and pushed her toward the drainage tunnel.
One by one, the women disappeared into the darkness.
Adrian covered the retreat.
Then a shot rang out from the upper catwalk.
Marcus.
Adrian turned just as the bullet struck him in the side.
He staggered backward.
“Adrian!”
Mara caught him before he hit the ground.
Blood spread rapidly across his shirt.
Marcus stepped into view above them.
He looked almost sad.
“You should have stayed out of this.”
Adrian tried to raise his weapon.
Marcus shot it from his hand.
The pistol skidded across the floor.
Mara looked at Marcus in disbelief.
“You sold them.”
Marcus looked at her calmly.
“I sold survival.”
He looked down at Adrian.
“Nolan owns this city.”
“You taught me that.”
Adrian smiled despite the blood.
“No.”
His voice was weak.
“I taught you loyalty.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“You taught me fear.”
He aimed the rifle.
Mara stepped in front of Adrian.
Marcus hesitated.
“You’ll die too.”
She looked directly at him.
“Then you’ll have to watch me refuse.”
For one long second, no one moved.
Then Dominic fired from the side corridor.
Marcus disappeared behind the catwalk railing.
The tunnel exploded into gunfire again.
Mara dragged Adrian toward the drainage channel.
“You’re losing too much blood.”
He looked at her.
“Leave me.”
“No.”
“Mara.”
“No.”
She pulled him forward inch by inch.
The water was freezing.
The tunnel was barely large enough for both of them.
Behind them, the underground complex began collapsing.
Explosions echoed through the church above.
Concrete cracked.
Steel beams screamed.
Dominic reached them.
“We have to go now!”
Together they forced Adrian through the drainage tunnel.
The passage opened onto the riverbank.
State police and federal agents were already arriving.
Helicopters circled overhead.
The rescued women were being pulled from the water.
Emma saw Mara and ran toward her.
“You made it!”
Mara smiled weakly.
Then looked down.
Adrian was unconscious.
Paramedics rushed forward.
They cut away the blood-soaked shirt.
One of them looked up sharply.
“We’re losing him!”
Mara grabbed Adrian’s hand.
“Stay with me.”
His eyes opened briefly.
“You’re safe.”
She was crying openly now.
“You idiot.”
A faint smile.
“That’s not usually the response.”
She leaned closer.
“You don’t get to save everyone except yourself.”
He tried to speak.
Couldn’t.
The ambulance doors closed.
Sirens screamed into the night.
Mara stood on the riverbank covered in mud, blood, and rain.
Behind her, St. Brigid’s burned.
In front of her, the man who had taught her that kindness could exist was fighting for his life.
Dominic walked over slowly.
“There’s something you need to know.”
She looked at him.
“Marcus escaped.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“He’ll go to Nolan.”
Dominic nodded.
“And now Nolan knows Adrian is wounded.”
The war wasn’t over.
It had only become personal.
As the ambulance disappeared into the darkness, Mara looked toward the burning church and made a silent promise.
May you like
This time she would not run.
This time she would finish it.
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