Detective Miller immediately shook his head. "Mr. Vance, Pier 42 is an abandoned industrial death trap. It's an ambush. We need to send in SWAT."
"If SWAT moves in, she kills Daniel before you reach the perimeter," Arthur countered sternly. "She knows your protocols."
"You can't go alone! She has hired mercenaries!" Miller argued.
Arthur walked over to his jacket, pulled a concealed holster from his coat, and checked the magazine of his custom pistol. "She underestimated me five years ago when she thought I was just a businessman. She forgot how I made my first fortune in private defense contracting."
"Mr. Vance!" Leo stepped forward, catching Arthur's sleeve. "Take me with you. I know the layout of Pier 42. My brother took me there when he was auditing the plant. There's an underground maintenance tunnel that leads directly beneath the processing floor. You can bypass her guards!"
Arthur looked down at the boy's fierce, unwavering determination. "It's dangerous, Leo."
"He's my brother," Leo said resolutely. "And she tried to kill your daughter. Let me help you finish this."
Arthur nodded grimly. "All right, kid. Let's go."
Chapter 5: Dawn Over Pier 42
Rain lashed against the corrugated iron walls of the abandoned Northside Chemical Processing Plant at Pier 42. Fog rolled off the dark harbor waters, enveloping the rotting wooden piers in a thick, ghostly haze.
Inside the sprawling central floor, massive rusted distillation tanks towered into the shadows. Bound tightly to a steel pillar in the center of the room was Daniel, bruised and bloodied, a heavy digital timer strapped to his chest counting down from eight minutes.
On an elevated catwalk twenty feet above, Eleanor stood clad in a black tactical coat, flanked by four heavily armed mercenaries carrying assault rifles.
"Three minutes late, Arthur," Eleanor's voice echoed through the PA system, distorting against the metallic walls. "I hope you brought the decryption key."
Arthur walked slowly into the center of the main floor, his hands clearly visible in the air. He held a silver flash drive in his right hand. "I have the key, Eleanor. Release the boy."
"Throw the drive onto the belt first!" she ordered, gesturing to a conveyor belt near the pillar.
Meanwhile, deep beneath the floorboards, Leo crawled quietly through a narrow, rust-coated ventilation tunnel. His knees were scraped, but he didn't care. Guided by the faint beam of a penlight, he reached the sub-floor access grate directly beneath Daniel's chair. Using a pair of heavy wire cutters he'd snagged from Arthur's trunk, Leo began quietly snipping the reinforced plastic zip-ties holding his brother's legs.
"You really thought you could destroy my life, Arthur?" Eleanor mocked from the catwalk, aiming a pistol down at him. "Once I upload this key, the funds transfer completes, and the media receives the leaked evidence framing you for Lily's murder and embezzlement. You will die in a federal prison while I enjoy your fortune on a private island."
"You forgot one thing, Eleanor," Arthur said, his voice ringing with dead calm.
"Oh? And what's that?"
"You forgot that I built this plant's security system ten years ago."
Arthur reached into his pocket and pressed a small remote detonator.