Chương 6 - THE WOLF’S BETRAYAL
Nikolai did not speak during the drive.
Lena had seen him angry.
She had seen him suspicious.
This was different.
Anton had spent eleven years beside him.
He knew Nikolai's homes, businesses, routines, allies, and enemies.
More importantly, Nikolai trusted him.
Betrayal did not merely hurt a powerful man.
It made him question every decision that had come before it.
They abandoned the safe house and moved to an old waterfront hotel Gabriel knew.
Evelyn joined them there.
When she learned Anton’s identity, she immediately began moving evidence outside Eastport.
“If anything happens to us,” she said, “copies go to federal prosecutors and three newspapers.”
Gabriel approved.
Nikolai did not.
“You should have done that years ago.”
“So should you,” Evelyn replied.
Lena sat beside her father.
She still had a thousand questions.
But there was no time.
At 10:43 a.m., Nikolai's phone rang.
Anton.
Nikolai answered.
“You lied to me.”
Anton sounded almost sad.
“So did everyone who raised me.”
“Where is Viktor?”
“Waiting.”
“For what?”
“You.”
Nikolai's eyes hardened.
Anton explained the real plan.
The poisoned drink had never been intended merely to kill Nikolai.
His death inside the Ember Lounge would have triggered a war among Eastport's major organizations. Viktor intended to return during the chaos and reclaim the harbor.
Lena's warning ruined everything.
“You should have let him drink,” Anton told her.
Nikolai's voice became ice.
“Say her name again and you'll regret surviving this long.”
Lena looked at him.
Anton laughed.
“There he is. The Wolf.”
The call ended.
Gabriel opened the ledger.
“We don't beat Viktor with guns.”
Nikolai looked at him.
“No.”
“We beat him with daylight.”
For years, Viktor survived because everyone was afraid to expose him.
So they changed the game.
Evelyn transmitted copies of the ledger.
Gabriel recorded a sworn statement.
Nikolai provided financial records from his legitimate companies.
Then Lena did something none of them expected.
She returned to the Ember Lounge.
Nikolai nearly lost his temper.
“Absolutely not.”
“You said Viktor needs the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“He also thinks I'm terrified.”
“You should be.”
“I am.”
Lena looked directly at him.
“But fear isn't the same thing as obedience.”
They devised the trap.
At noon, Lena walked alone onto Pier Nine carrying the original ledger.
Fog covered the harbor.
Marcus waited beside an abandoned warehouse.
“Where's Viktor?”
“Give me the book.”
“Where is he?”
Marcus smiled.
“You really think you're negotiating?”
Lena held up the ledger.
“You really think I'd come without insurance?”
Marcus’s smile faded.
“If I don't walk away from this pier, every page goes public.”
“Bluff.”
“Try me.”
A voice came from the fog.
“She's Gabriel's daughter.”
An older man emerged.
Viktor Soren.
He looked nothing like the monster Lena had imagined.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
A grandfather's face.
That made him worse.
“Your father always believed information made him powerful,” Viktor said.
“It kept him alive.”
“Barely.”
“You're afraid of a book.”
Viktor smiled.
“I'm afraid of what stupid people do with incomplete truths.”
He held out his hand.
“Ledger.”
Lena stepped forward.
Marcus grabbed her.
Viktor opened the book.
His smile disappeared.
The pages were blank.
Lena whispered, “You really should check what you're buying.”
Marcus struck her across the face.
Before he could hit her again, Nikolai emerged from behind a cargo container.
“Touch her again.”
Marcus froze.
Men appeared behind Nikolai.
Then police sirens sounded in the distance.
Viktor laughed.
“You brought police?”
“No,” Lena said.
“I brought witnesses.”
News vans appeared at the far entrance to the pier.
Evelyn had tipped off reporters.
Viktor's face finally changed.
Not fear.
Rage.
He grabbed Lena and pressed a gun against her side.
Nikolai stopped.
“Let her go.”
“Drop your weapon.”
Nikolai obeyed.
Lena stared at him.
Viktor dragged her toward a waiting boat.
Then another gunshot cracked across the pier.
Marcus collapsed, wounded in the shoulder.
Gabriel stood near the warehouse holding a pistol.
“Let my daughter go.”
Viktor stared at him.
“You never knew when to stay dead.”
“And you never knew when you'd lost.”
Viktor fired.
Gabriel fell.
“Dad!”
Lena twisted free.
Nikolai rushed Viktor.
They crashed against the railing.
Marcus crawled toward the dropped gun.
Lena kicked it away.
Police flooded the pier.
Viktor struck Nikolai and climbed onto the boat.
Anton suddenly appeared behind the wheel.
“Father!”
Viktor jumped aboard.
Anton accelerated.
The boat disappeared into the fog.
Lena ran to Gabriel.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Dad.”
He opened his eyes.
“Still here.”
Paramedics rushed toward them.
Nikolai knelt beside Lena.
Gabriel looked at him.
“Protect her.”
Lena shook her head.
“No. Don't talk like that.”
Gabriel managed a weak smile.
“Sweetheart, I'm not dying.”
A paramedic examined the wound.
“He's right. Bullet went through the shoulder.”
Lena laughed through tears.
Nikolai sat back.
For the first time all morning, relief appeared on his face.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message.
He read it.
His expression darkened again.
“What?” Lena asked.
Nikolai showed her.
It was a photograph of the Ember Lounge burning.
Below it were six words.
May you like
YOU TOOK MY EMPIRE.
I TAKE YOURS.
