Chapter 19 - THE FALL OF JULIAN WARREN
Vivian fought Julian for control of the gun.
The weapon slid across the deck.
Julian struck her and reached for the navigation controls.
Celeste’s rescue boat pulled alongside the moving vessel.
Reed grabbed her arm.
“The distance is too wide.”
Celeste judged the waves, the speed, and the narrowing space between the ships.
“Not for me.”
She jumped.
Her hands caught the cargo vessel’s railing.
She pulled herself onto the deck as the ship raced toward the fuel tanker.
Julian entered the control room.
Celeste followed.
He swung a metal bar at her head.
She blocked the strike with her forearm and drove him against the navigation console.
Vivian crawled toward the emergency controls.
Julian kicked her away.
Celeste struck him in the ribs.
He grabbed her injured shoulder and squeezed directly into the scar tissue.
Pain flashed through her body.
“You were always weak there,” he said.
Celeste looked into her brother’s eyes.
“No.”
She twisted free.
“That is where I survived.”
She drove her palm beneath his chin.
Julian fell across the console.
Vivian reached the emergency throttle and pulled it back.
The engines screamed.
The vessel slowed.
It stopped less than fifty yards from the tanker.
Coast Guard teams boarded from both sides.
Julian recovered the gun and aimed it at Celeste.
Amelia’s voice came through the open doorway.
“It’s over, Julian.”
He turned.
Amelia stood beside Admiral Reed.
For the first time, Julian looked truly afraid.
“You’re dead.”
“You tried very hard to make that true.”
Julian backed toward the railing.
Agents ordered him to drop the weapon.
He looked at Celeste.
“You think they’ll call you a hero?”
“They will use you until there is nothing left.”
Celeste stepped toward him.
“Drop the gun.”
“We are the same.”
“No.”
She looked at Vivian, Amelia, Reed, and the officers surrounding them.
“I know when to stop fighting alone.”
Julian’s fingers loosened.
The weapon fell.
Agents forced him to the deck and placed him in handcuffs.
Celeste watched her brother being led away.
There was no triumph in the moment.
Only relief.
Only grief.
Only the knowledge that justice could arrive without repairing what had been broken.
Vivian stood beside Celeste.
“What happens to me?”
“You testify.”
“And after that?”
“You answer for what you did.”
May you like
Vivian nodded.
For once, she did not argue.
