Chapter 15 - Five Minutes
The bullet struck the metal railing beside Thomas's head.
Price fired back.
Pike ducked behind the stairwell wall.
"You missed," Thomas called.
"Warning shot."
"You were always a terrible liar."
Thomas descended one step at a time.
Behind him, Nina kept reading names into the live mobile feed.
One minute.
Pike's tactical team pushed forward.
Thomas recognized half of them.
Men he had paid Christmas bonuses through city charities.
"Look at me," Thomas shouted.
The officers hesitated.
"You know what is upstairs. Evidence. Not drugs. Not weapons. Evidence. If you shoot federal agents to protect Evan Pike, this does not end with a pension hearing."
Pike yelled, "He is a racketeer trying to save himself!"
Thomas laughed.
"For once, I am doing the opposite."
Two minutes.
A young officer lowered his rifle.
Pike turned on him.
"Raise your weapon."
"Sir, I-"
"Raise it!"
The officer did not.
A second lowered his.
Then a third.
Pike's face changed.
Three minutes.
Maya came down the stairs holding her phone.
"The stream passed two hundred thousand viewers."
Thomas smiled faintly.
"New Orleans loves a scandal before breakfast."
Pike raised his pistol at Maya.
Thomas stepped directly into the line of fire.
"Do it," he said.
Pike stared at him.
"You think this makes you clean?"
"No."
"You think one brave morning erases twenty-six years?"
"No."
"Then why?"
Thomas looked at Maya.
Then at Rosa standing at the top of the stairs with Price's jacket around her shoulders.
"Because my daughter asked me to bring her mother back."
Pike sneered.
"That is all?"
"It is enough."
Four minutes.
Sirens multiplied outside.
Not city police.
Federal tactical units.
Pike looked toward the loading dock.
He knew.
He grabbed the young officer who had lowered his rifle and shoved him aside, running for the exit.
Thomas caught his coat.
Pike spun and punched the bullet wound.
Thomas dropped to one knee.
Pike raised the pistol.
Maya hit him with a broadcast camera tripod.
The weapon clattered away.
Price tackled Pike into the concrete floor.
Five minutes.
Nina's voice came through the stairwell speakers as power returned.
"Copies of the complete Rousseau ledger have now been delivered to four national news organizations and the U.S. Attorney's Office."
The room went silent.
Pike lay handcuffed on the floor.
Thomas sat against the wall, pale and shaking.
Rosa ran down the stairs and threw her arms around him.
"We won."
Thomas looked at the federal agents surrounding him.
"That depends on your definition."
Price approached with a pair of handcuffs.
Maya's face tightened.
Thomas held out both wrists.
Rosa looked confused.
"Why are they arresting you?"
Thomas met her eyes.
"Because bad men do not become good just because they do one good thing."
Price cuffed him gently.
Rosa began to cry.
Thomas stood with difficulty.
"Hey."
She looked up.
"This part is mine. Not yours."
Then Price's phone rang.
He answered, listened, and slowly looked at Maya.
"We have a problem."
Maya's stomach tightened.
"What now?"
Price said, "Judge Landry is gone. And he took a hostage."
"Who?"
Price's eyes shifted toward Rosa.
"Your mother."
------------------------------------------------------------
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
May you like
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://metro.treeiq.biz
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
