Chapter 8 - The Shadow on the Deck
Claire sat in the pitch-black interior of the SUV, holding Leo tightly against her chest. Her heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped bird. Outside, the wind howled through the steel framing of the gantry cranes, sounding like distant screams.
Ten minutes passed. Then twelve.
Suddenly, a dull thud echoed from the top of the shipping container directly above the SUV.
Claire went completely motionless, her breath catching in her throat. She looked up at the metal ceiling. A second thud sounded, followed by the slow, metallic scraping of heavy boots moving across the roof of the vehicle.
Someone was up there.
Claire reached into her coat pocket, pulling out the heavy brass paperweight Leo had thrown earlier. She slid carefully out of the back seat, placing Leo gently onto the floorboards beneath a wool blanket.
"Stay down, sweetie," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Don't make a sound."
Leo nodded silently, clutching his stuffed bear to his chest.
Claire unlocked the rear door with a quiet click, slipping out into the freezing rain, staying low against the SUV's tires. She peeked around the rear bumper.
Standing on top of the container above was one of Arthur's armed mercenaries, pointing a thermal scope down at the vehicle. He held a radio to his ear. "I found the transport. The boy is inside."
Claire didn't hesitate. She scrambled up the iron ladder welded to the side of the container behind the man. The wind nearly blew her off the wet rungs, but fury and pure protective instinct drove her upward.
As her boots hit the corrugated metal roof, the mercenary turned around, startled.
Claire swung the heavy brass paperweight with every ounce of strength she possessed, striking the man squarely on his jaw.
The mercenary let out a muffled grunt, stumbling backward over the edge of the container. He crashed twenty feet down onto a stack of wooden pallets, lying motionless in the dark.
Claire gasped for air, grabbing the tactical radio that had fallen from his hand.
A static-filled voice crackled through the speaker: "Team Alpha, we have secured the lower deck of the vessel. Arthur has the target. Proceed to the main crane for extraction."
"The vessel," Claire whispered to herself.
She looked toward the end of Pier 42. Docked against the concrete pylons was a massive, rusting freighter named The Baltic Star. Spotlights flashed across its upper deck, illuminating two men struggling near the edge of the gangway.
Claire scrambled down the container ladder, ran to the SUV's driver's side, and grabbed the vehicle's secondary keys. She checked on Leo, ensuring he was secure, then locked the doors from the outside.
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"I'll be right back, Leo," she swore to the rain. "I promise."
She sprinted through the darkness toward the rusty hull of The Baltic Star.
