Chapter 7 - The Price of Becoming Mrs. CarterEmily Stone hated Andrew Carter immediately.
Cindy had expected fear.
Suspicion.
Possibly gratitude.
She had not expected her twenty-two-year-old sister to walk into Andrew’s penthouse, look directly at the most feared man Cindy had ever known, and say:
“So you’re the psychopath.”
Lucas nearly choked on his coffee.
Andrew remained perfectly still.
Cindy closed her eyes.
“Emily.”
“What?”
Emily dropped her backpack.
“He bought an apartment building because you wanted to rent there.”
“The building was unsafe,” Andrew said.
Emily stared at him.
“You understand that answer makes you sound more insane, right?”
Lucas turned toward the window.
His shoulders shook.
Andrew looked at him.
“Something funny?”
“No, boss.”
“Leave.”
“With pleasure.”
Lucas disappeared.
Emily crossed her arms.
She was smaller than Cindy.
Same dark hair.
Same stubborn chin.
Far less interested in diplomacy.
“You hurt my sister?”
Andrew answered immediately.
“No.”
“You ever threaten her?”
“Yes.”
Cindy looked at him.
“When?”
Andrew considered.
“The groceries argument became aggressive.”
“That does not count.”
Emily’s eyebrows rose.
“You two have arguments about groceries?”
“Apparently.”
Andrew poured coffee.
Emily watched him.
“You kill people?”
Cindy’s stomach tightened.
Andrew did not lie.
“I have.”
Emily looked at Cindy.
“You’re dating a murderer.”
“That is a very simplified description.”
“Cindy.”
“I know what he is.”
Emily stared at her sister for several seconds.
Then her anger changed.
It became fear.
Not of Andrew.
For Cindy.
“You used to call me when you got scared watching true-crime documentaries.”
“I was nineteen.”
“You cried when Dad ran over a squirrel.”
“I was twelve.”
“You wouldn’t even pirate movies because you said it was stealing.”
Andrew glanced toward Cindy.
“You pirated movies?”
“No.”
Emily pointed.
“Exactly.”
Cindy sighed.
“Can we not conduct my moral history in front of him?”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“Who are you?”
The question hurt.
Because Cindy had asked herself the same thing.
She sat beside her sister.
“I’m still me.”
“No.”
Emily shook her head.
“You’re living with a criminal.”
“You’re helping him.”
“And now people are taking pictures of me.”
“I know.”
Cindy’s voice softened.
“And I’m sorry.”
Andrew stepped away.
Giving them privacy.
That small gesture did not escape Emily.
“My life changed,” Cindy said.
“Not all at once.”
“Not because he forced me.”
“I made choices.”
“Some were probably bad.”
“Some I’m still figuring out.”
Emily wiped her eyes.
“Do you love him?”
The room became very quiet.
Andrew stood near the window.
His back remained toward them.
Cindy looked at him.
She had never said the words.
Not aloud.
Their relationship had developed through actions.
Blood.
Arguments.
Coffee.
Security systems.
Kisses stolen between meetings.
Nights when Andrew woke from sleep and instinctively reached across the bed to make sure she remained there.
But the word itself had never been spoken.
Cindy answered anyway.
“Yes.”
Andrew’s shoulders shifted.
Barely.
Emily noticed.
“So he knows?”
Cindy looked toward him.
“He does now.”
Andrew turned.
His expression gave nothing away.
Except his eyes.
Emily stared between them.
“Oh my God.”
“What?”
“He loves you too.”
Andrew’s face hardened.
“That is not your concern.”
Emily actually laughed.
“You’re terrifying.”
“I’ve been told.”
“No.”
She pointed at him.
“You’re terrified.”
Andrew Carter, who had negotiated with armed killers without raising his pulse, looked momentarily uncertain.
Cindy smiled.
Emily saw it.
“You are both ridiculous.”
The humor lasted eleven minutes.
Then Lucas returned.
His expression killed it.
“We have a problem.”
Andrew straightened.
“Meridian?”
“Yes.”
Lucas placed a tablet on the counter.
“Marcus Bell disappeared during federal transfer.”
Cindy stared.
“What?”
“Transport van got hit.”
“Two marshals injured.”
“Bell taken.”
Andrew looked toward Emily.
“Safe room.”
Emily opened her mouth.
“No.”
Andrew did not raise his voice.
“Emily.”
“You are not locking me—”
“Now.”
Something in his tone ended the argument.
Cindy touched her sister’s shoulder.
“Go.”
Emily reluctantly followed a security guard.
When the door closed, Cindy turned.
“They attacked federal marshals?”
“Which means Meridian isn’t hiding anymore.”
Lucas enlarged a map.
“Bell was taken near Newark.”
“Traffic cameras caught three vehicles.”
“All stolen.”
“No plates.”
“No faces.”
Andrew studied the screen.
“They don’t care about Bell.”
“They care about what he told us.”
Cindy understood.
“Meridian knows we know their name.”
Lucas nodded.
Andrew walked toward the window.
“Then they’ll accelerate.”
The call arrived forty minutes later.
Unknown number.
Andrew’s private phone.
He answered on speaker.
A woman spoke.
Calm.
Educated.
Probably mid-forties.
“Mr. Carter.”
“Who is this?”
“My name is Evelyn Shaw.”
Lucas typed immediately.
Cindy watched his screen.
No immediate result.
Evelyn continued.
“I represent Meridian.”
Andrew’s expression did not change.
“You threatened Cindy’s sister.”
“A regrettable necessity.”
“You have thirty seconds to explain why you’re still breathing.”
The woman laughed softly.
“Your reputation is accurate.”
“Twenty-five.”
“We require Ms. Stone’s routing model.”
“No.”
“Twenty.”
“In return, Meridian permanently withdraws from your territory.”
“No.”
“Fifteen.”
“And if you refuse, we begin removing people.”
Andrew’s hand tightened around the phone.
“Start with me.”
“That would be inefficient.”
Evelyn paused.
“Men like you are replaceable.”
“People you love are not.”
Cindy felt Andrew change beside her.
She grabbed his wrist.
Grounding him.
Evelyn continued.
“Tomorrow.”
“Midnight.”
“Pier 16.”
“Ms. Stone comes alone with the complete routing architecture.”
“No.”
This time Cindy spoke.
Silence.
Then Evelyn sounded amused.
“Ms. Stone.”
“You’ve caused considerable trouble.”
“You threatened my sister.”
“Business requires leverage.”
“Then you made a bad business decision.”
Cindy looked at Lucas.
He was tracing.
Thirty seconds.
Maybe more.
Cindy needed time.
“What are you moving?”
Evelyn paused.
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t need our routes for ordinary contraband.”
“You could build your own.”
“But you specifically need mine.”
“That means timing matters.”
Andrew looked at Cindy.
She continued.
“You have cargo arriving soon.”
“Something customs cannot see.”
“Something valuable enough to attack federal officers.”
Silence.
Cindy smiled slightly.
“You’re nervous.”
Evelyn’s voice cooled.
“Midnight.”
“Pier 16.”
“If you involve police, Emily dies.”
The line disconnected.
Lucas swore.
“Not enough time.”
“Did you get anything?”
“Signal bounced through four countries.”
“Last relay was Manhattan.”
Andrew turned toward Cindy.
“You are not going.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
“They asked for me.”
“Exactly.”
“If we refuse, they target Emily.”
“I’ll move Emily.”
“They’ll target somebody else.”
“Lucas.”
“Your mother.”
Andrew froze.
Cindy regretted saying it.
But truth mattered.
“They know our personnel files.”
“They know everything.”
“We cannot protect every person forever.”
“So your solution is walking into a trap?”
“My solution is making them believe they won.”
Andrew stepped toward her.
“No.”
“Andrew.”
“No.”
His voice rose.
“You want independence?”
“Fine.”
“You want access to the business?”
“Fine.”
“You want to argue with me in front of my own men?”
“Apparently I have accepted that too.”
“But you do not walk onto a pier alone because some woman threatened your sister.”
Cindy held his gaze.
“I won’t be alone.”
“You heard her.”
“She expects me alone.”
“That doesn’t mean I will be.”
Andrew stared.
Cindy turned toward Lucas.
“Can we build a fake routing package?”
Lucas considered.
“Yes.”
“Something convincing?”
“For twenty minutes.”
“That’s enough.”
Andrew realized the plan.
“No.”
Cindy ignored him.
“Put a tracker inside the drive.”
Lucas nodded.
“Mic too.”
“No.”
Andrew slammed his palm onto the counter.
Everyone stopped.
He looked at Cindy.
“I almost lost you once.”
“This is different.”
“How?”
“Because this time I’m choosing to walk in.”
“That does not make bullets less fatal.”
“No.”
Cindy moved closer.
“But you taught me something.”
“What?”
“Power isn’t preventing every dangerous thing from happening.”
She touched his chest near the scar.
“Sometimes it’s choosing what happens next.”
Andrew closed his eyes.
For several seconds, Cindy thought he would refuse.
Then he opened them.
“If you go, you wear armor.”
“Fine.”
“Lucas positions twelve shooters.”
“Fine.”
“I’m there.”
“Obviously.”
“If anything changes, you leave.”
“Agreed.”
Andrew looked furious.
Cindy smiled.
“You hate compromise.”
“I hate your version of compromise.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“I still lose.”
“No.”
She kissed him lightly.
“You just don’t control everything.”
“That feels identical.”
At 11:58 the following night, Cindy walked onto Pier 16 carrying a black laptop bag.
Rain had returned.
Apparently every important disaster in her life required rain.
She wore a dark coat over body armor.
A transmitter sat beneath her collar.
Andrew listened from a warehouse two hundred yards away.
Lucas positioned teams across rooftops.
Cindy reached the center of the pier.
A black sedan waited.
The rear door opened.
Evelyn Shaw stepped out.
Elegant.
Silver-blonde hair.
Camel coat.
No visible weapon.
Two men followed.
“Ms. Stone.”
Cindy stopped ten feet away.
“You wanted the system.”
Evelyn looked at the bag.
“You brought it?”
“Yes.”
“Hand it over.”
“First Emily disappears from your files.”
Evelyn smiled.
“You think you’re negotiating?”
“I manage Andrew Carter.”
Cindy’s voice remained calm.
“You’re easier.”
Inside the warehouse, Lucas glanced at Andrew.
Andrew almost smiled.
Evelyn did not.
“You misunderstand your position.”
“No.”
Cindy lifted the bag.
“You need this.”
“That means I have something you want.”
Evelyn extended her hand.
Cindy threw the bag onto wet concrete between them.
Evelyn’s man retrieved it.
Opened the laptop.
Inserted the drive.
He nodded.
Evelyn relaxed.
That was the mistake.
Lucas’s voice came through Cindy’s earpiece.
“Tracker live.”
Cindy smiled.
Evelyn saw it.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Cindy stepped backward.
Evelyn understood.
“Grab her.”
The two men moved.
Gunfire erupted from the rooftop.
One man fell.
The other dove behind the sedan.
Andrew’s team flooded the pier.
Cindy dropped behind a concrete barrier.
Andrew appeared through the rain.
Weapon raised.
Evelyn ran.
Not toward the sedan.
Toward the water.
A speedboat emerged from beneath the pier.
Evelyn jumped aboard.
Andrew fired twice.
Missed.
The boat disappeared into darkness.
Lucas reached Cindy.
“You hit?”
“No.”
Andrew arrived seconds later.
He grabbed Cindy’s shoulders.
Checked her face.
Arms.
Chest.
“You’re okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Then he kissed her in front of twenty armed men.
Lucas sighed.
“Professional environment, boss.”
Andrew ignored him.
Cindy laughed against his mouth.
Then Lucas’s phone beeped.
He checked the tracker.
His expression changed.
“We got her.”
Andrew released Cindy.
“Where?”
Lucas turned the screen.
The tracker moved north.
Then stopped.
At a warehouse complex beside the Hudson.
Andrew looked at Cindy.
“You wanted your fight.”
Cindy stared at the blinking dot.
“No.”
May you like
She took Andrew’s hand.
“Our fight.”
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