Chapter 7 - The Final Storm
The sea cave was an amphitheater of rage and water. Waves crashed over the lower pier, throwing white spray twenty feet into the air, soaking everyone on the dock.
"Damian!" Maya cried out, her heart breaking at the sight of him covered in blood, but filled with immense relief that he was alive.
"Stay back, Maya," Damian commanded without taking his eyes off Julian.
Julian backed up toward the idling motorboat, keeping his revolver pressed against his cousin's sightline, grabbing Maya by her arm and pulling her in front of him as a human shield.
"Don't move, Damian!" Julian screamed, his voice cracking with hysteria. "One step down those stairs and I put a bullet through her heart! I'll throw her body into the tide and let the rocks tear her apart!"
Lily began to scream, her tiny hands beating against Julian’s wet sleeve. "Let go of my mommy! Bad man! Let go!"
Damian lowered his weapon two inches. His breathing was heavy, his face carved from stone, but his dark eyes were laser-focused on Julian’s hand holding the gun.
"You want me, Julian," Damian said, taking one slow, deliberate step down the stone stairs. "This was never about Maya. This was about you hating me because my father saw right through you. He knew you were weak. He knew you were greedy."
"Shut up!" Julian shrieked, his grip tightening on Maya’s throat. "I was better than you! I made twice as much money on those docks as you ever did!"
"By selling fake medicine that killed working-class fathers?" Damian said, taking another step down. "By poisoning this coast? You're not a businessman, Julian. You're a leech."
"I’ll kill her, Damian! I swear to God I’ll kill her!" Julian raised the gun from Maya’s chest, aiming it directly at Damian’s head.
In that fraction of a second, Maya didn't hesitate.
Remembering everything she had lost, remembering Daniel’s face, and seeing the man who had given her a reason to live standing on those stairs, Maya drove her elbow backward with everything she had, striking Julian hard in his broken nose.
Julian howled in agony, his head snapping back.
Damian lunged forward.
The gun fired—a deafening roar inside the stone cavern.
The bullet grazed Damian’s side, tearing through his black wool sweater, but Damian didn't even slow down. He tackled Julian off the wooden pier and straight into the churning, freezing black water of the sea cave.
"Damian!" Maya screamed, running to the edge of the dock, clutching Lily to her chest.
Below, in the wild, churning surf, two men fought among the sharp granite rocks. Julian thrashing frantically, trying to raise his gun, while Damian pinned his arm against the stone, his sheer strength overwhelming his younger cousin.
With a final, massive surge of force, Damian twisted Julian's wrist, forcing him to drop the revolver into the abyss of the ocean floor, then grabbed Julian by his collar and dragged him back toward the lower ladder of the dock.
Silas and three police cruisers with flashing red-and-blue lights suddenly burst into the upper cavern road, shouting orders through megaphones as state troopers poured into the sea cave.
Damian hauled Julian onto the wooden planks, tossing him like a ragdoll at the feet of the state troopers, who immediately pinned Julian to the floor and slapped heavy steel handcuffs onto his wrists.
Julian lay coughing up salt water, his eyes bloodshot, staring at the ceiling of the cave in utter defeat.
Damian turned around, gasping for air, his side bleeding heavily onto the wet wood.
Maya dropped to her knees in front of him, tears streaming down her face, her hands frantically pressing against his bleeding side. "Damian! Oh God, Damian, you're hit!"
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Damian reached up, his large, cold hand wrapping gently around her wrists, stopping her frantic movement. He looked into her eyes, his breathing heavy, but his chest lighter than it had been in forty years.
"I'm fine, Maya," Damian whispered softly, a weak but genuine smile gracing his lips. "The storm is over."
