CHAPTER 28: PRESTON’S REDEMPTION
CHAPTER 28: PRESTON’S REDEMPTION
The standoff was frozen under the flashing lights of the pier.
Agent Bennett’s team had their weapons trained on Helena’s men, but the position was compromised. I was being held at the edge of the gangway, the black water of the harbor churning twenty feet below me.
Then, a secondary vehicle arrived at the pier entrance.
A state correctional transport van.
The door swung open, and Preston stepped out into the rain, flanked by two armed prison guards. He had cut a deal with the federal prosecutor hours ago to provide live authentication of the Sterling metadata.
He looked at Helena, his face streaked with water, his orange jumpsuit soaked.
"It’s over, Helena!" Preston shouted over the wind.
"I gave Bennett the secondary encryption key from my cell block! The feds already have the offshore routing numbers!"
Helena’s calm expression cracked for a fraction of a second.
"You’re a fool, Preston," she spat, her voice rising above the storm.
"You’ve ruined the family legacy for nothing. You’ll spend the rest of your life in a cage anyway."
Preston looked at me, then at Hannah, a calm, peaceful expression settling into his eyes—the same expression our mother wore before she passed.
"I’m already in a cage, Helena," Preston said quietly.
"But my sisters aren't."
With a sudden, violent movement, Preston threw his weight into the lead prison guard, grabbing the tactical radio from his belt and broadcasting a pre-recorded sequence directly into the shipping terminal’s automated automated crane system.
The massive steel crane arm above us groaned, its cables snapping under a sudden overload command.
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