Chapter 17 - THE CHOICE
Grant ran toward the crane controls.
Henry pressed the remote.
Nathaniel’s chair tipped over the edge of the platform.
Harris lunged forward and caught the chain attached to the chair.
The weight dragged him across the wet concrete.
Detective Cole fired at Henry.
The bullet struck the silver cane.
A hidden compartment opened, revealing a small pistol.
Henry fired back.
Cole took cover behind a forklift.
Grant reached the crane controls and reversed the container.
The suspended load swung away from the fuel tanks.
Workers fled through the emergency exits.
The terminal alarm screamed above the storm.
Harris continued sliding toward the edge.
Nathaniel hung above the black water.
Grant left the controls and grabbed Harris’s arm.
Together, they pulled the chain backward.
Henry aimed at Grant.
Before he could fire, Lily’s voice thundered through the terminal speakers.
“Stop!”
She had accessed the command vehicle microphone.
Henry looked toward the cameras.
For the first time, his expression changed.
Lily continued speaking.
“My mommy wasn’t afraid of you.”
Henry raised the remote again.
“She should have been.”
I saw Celeste moving toward the control tower.
She intended to shut Lily’s microphone off.
I followed her up the stairs.
Inside the tower, Celeste turned with a knife.
She swung toward my chest.
I caught her wrist with both hands.
We crashed against the control panel.
Below us, the explosive container began moving again.
Celeste had activated the automatic crane sequence.
“You can’t stop him,” she said.
“Everyone can be stopped.”
I struck the emergency brake.
The crane froze.
Celeste drove her shoulder into me.
The knife fell between us.
She reached for it.
Lily appeared in the doorway holding a fire extinguisher.
She sprayed Celeste directly in the face.
Celeste stumbled backward.
I kicked the knife away and locked her inside the equipment cage.
Outside, Grant and Harris pulled Nathaniel back onto the platform.
Detective Cole advanced toward Henry.
The old man backed toward a waiting speedboat.
Grant blocked his path.
“It’s over.”
Henry smiled.
“For you, perhaps.”
He pressed the final button on the remote.
An explosion tore through the far end of the terminal.
Flames rose behind the warehouses.
The blast knocked everyone from their feet.
Henry ran toward the boat.
Nathaniel, barely able to stand, grabbed his father’s coat.
Henry struck him with the cane.
Grant tackled Henry before he could fire again.
The two men fell onto the dock.
Henry reached for the pistol.
Lily’s voice came through the speakers once more.
“Daddy, don’t become him.”
Grant stopped.
Instead of reaching for the weapon, he stepped back.
Detective Cole placed Henry in handcuffs.
Henry stared at Grant with contempt.
“You are weak.”
Grant looked toward Lily’s camera.
“No.”
May you like
He turned back to his father.
“I’m finally free.”
