Chapter 8 - Fire and Steel
The rain turned into an icy downpour as two armored SUVs departed the Foundry, taking secondary industrial roads through South Philadelphia to avoid traffic surveillance. Dominic sat in the rear with Harper, who had changed out of the ruined silk gala dress into dark tactical denim, a heavy black sweater, and a leather jacket provided by the safe house armory.
In her right pocket rested a compact 9mm pistol Dominic had placed into her hands forty minutes earlier. He had not forced it on her. He had laid it on the table, cleared the chamber in front of her, and asked simply, *“Do you want to carry this?”*
She had picked it up, racked the slide with steady hands, and holstered it. She was done being the rabbit.
The secondary team had already secured Harper’s personal belongings from the staff quarters at Blackwood. Lucas handed the worn work boot across the console as the SUV pulled into an alley two blocks from the Filbert Street bus terminal.
Harper took a small utility blade, sliced through the inner lining of the heel, and pulled out a small, flat brass key attached to a numbered red plastic tag: *Locker 412.*
“Center City surveillance is hot,” Lucas announced, checking the encrypted monitor mounted on the dash. “We have four black Suburbans circling the perimeter of the terminal. New York plates. Heavy tint. Salvatore’s cleaners are already here. They must have bribed a transit authority clerk to pull surveillance from the day Harper arrived in Philadelphia.”
“How many men?” Dominic asked, his voice entirely devoid of panic, operating with the cold precision of a veteran commander.
“At least eight inside. Three spotters near the exits,” Lucas replied. “The station is closed for maintenance until five in the morning, which means the lobby is empty except for security—and Salvatore’s men likely replaced security an hour ago.”
Dominic checked his weapon, snapping the magazine home with a crisp, lethal metallic click. “We don’t wait for them to secure the lockers. Lucas, take the rear service bay and cut the main grid. Give us forty seconds of total black. Harper stays between us.”
“No,” Harper interrupted.
Both Dominic and Lucas turned to look at her.
Harper met Dominic’s gaze without flinching. “If they see three armed operatives breaching the doors, they’ll detonate the locker bank or burn the records before you reach them. But if they see a frightened woman sneaking in through the side ticket entrance, their orders will be to capture me alive to find out what I know about the trust.”
“Absolutely not,” Dominic said instantly, his tone leaving no room for debate. “I am not using you as bait.”
“I’m not bait, Dominic,” Harper said, stepping closer to him, her fingers curling around the lapel of his tactical jacket. It was the first time she had initiated physical contact, and she felt the sudden, involuntary tension that locked his broad frame at her touch. “I am the principal. This is my mother’s legacy. If we do this your way, we start a firefight in an open terminal and the key gets destroyed. Let me draw their lead spotter toward the baggage corridor. The moment he moves on me, you take the team from the shadows.”
Dominic stared down at her, his jaw working as an intense battle raged behind his gray eyes. For five long seconds, the silence inside the armored vehicle was deafening.
“If you are in danger for even a fraction of a second,” Dominic whispered, his hand rising to cup the back of her neck, his fingers tangling gently into the hair at the base of her skull, “I will burn that entire building to the ground with everyone inside it.”
May you like
Harper felt her heart thud violently against her ribs—not from fear, but from the raw, intoxicating power of his promise. “I know you will.”
***