Chapter 5 - The Rising Tide
The guard began to pull me toward the service exit,
his strength overwhelming.
I tried to scream,
but he pressed a hand over my mouth,
his eyes darting around the room.
"One sound,"
he whispered,
"and you die right here."
I struggled,
my heels clicking against the marble floor,
desperation clawing at my throat.
But then,
the air in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.
Cassian appeared at the end of the hallway,
not running,
but walking with a slow,
deliberate pace that was far more terrifying.
"Let her go,"
he said,
his voice echoing like thunder in the small space.
The guard pulled a suppressed pistol,
pointing it at my head.
"One more step,
Rossi,
and she’s gone."
Cassian didn't stop.
He didn't even flinch.
"If you pull that trigger,"
Cassian said,
his eyes locking onto the guard’s.
"You won't live long enough to hear the casing hit the floor."
"And I promise you,
your death will be a long,
painful story."
The guard’s hand trembled.
He knew who he was facing.
In that split second of hesitation,
Cassian moved.
He threw a small,
weighted blade with a flick of his wrist.
It embedded itself in the guard’s shoulder,
causing him to roar in pain and drop the gun.
I dove away,
scrambling toward the wall as Cassian closed the distance.
The fight was over in seconds.
Cassian didn't kill him,
not yet.
He pinned the man to the wall,
his fingers digging into his throat.
"Where is the Commissioner?"
he demanded.
"He’s... he’s leaving,"
the guard gasped.
"The docks... Pier 42."
Cassian turned to me,
his eyes searching my face for any sign of injury.
"Are you okay?"
"I’m fine,"
I said,
my voice shaking.
"We have the footage,
Cassian. Let’s go."
We raced to the SUV,
the engine roaring as we tore through the city streets.
The docks were a labyrinth of shipping containers and fog.
We saw the Commissioner’s car,
parked near a waiting speedboat.
He was trying to flee,
realizing that his world was crumbling.
Cassian cut him off,
the SUV skidding to a halt across the pier.
The Commissioner stepped out,
his face pale and sweating.
"Rossi,"
he stammered.
"We can make a deal. I have money,
I have influence."
"You tried to kill a woman who had done nothing to you,"
Cassian said,
stepping into the light of the streetlamps.
"You violated the only rule I care about."
"In this city,
innocents are off-limits."
Cassian held up his phone,
the video of the gala playing on the screen.
"I’ve already sent this to every news outlet and every federal agent in the state,"
he said.
"You're done."
The sirens began to wail in the distance,
the sound of justice finally arriving.
The Commissioner looked at me,
his eyes full of a pathetic,
useless rage.
"You,"
he spat.
"You’re just a girl with a camera."
"And you,"
I said,
stepping forward.
"Are just a man who forgot that the river always gives up its secrets."
The police arrived,
dozens of cars swarming the pier.
They took the Commissioner in handcuffs,
his fall from grace spectacular and public.
Volkov’s men were intercepted at the border,
their empire dismantled by the evidence we had gathered.
As the sun began to rise for the second time since my rescue,
I stood on the pier,
watching the water.
Cassian stood beside me,
his presence no longer terrifying,
but strangely comforting.
"So,"
I said,
looking at him.
"What happens now?"
"The police will want your statement,"
he said,
looking out at the horizon.
"And then,
you can go back to your life."
"I don't think I can,"
I admitted.
"The world looks different now."
He turned to me,
a small,
genuine smile touching his lips.
"It does."
"If you ever need a new job,"
he added,
his voice low.
"I could use someone with your eye for detail."
I looked at the black coat he was still wearing,
the gold C.R. glinting in the morning light.
I had been pulled from the river by a monster,
only to find that he was the only one with enough light to save me.
"I might take you up on that,"
I said.
He reached out,
taking my hand in his,
his grip strong and unshaking.
The river flowed on,
dark and deep,
carrying the wreckage of the past away.
But for the first time,
I wasn't afraid of the water.
I was ready to see what lay beneath the surface.
And as we walked away from the docks,
I knew that my story was only just beginning.
Because in the heart of Portland,
even the most dangerous men need someone to tell their truth.
And I was the only one who could see the man behind the shadow.
The city woke up around us,
oblivious to the change.
But I was changed,
transformed by the cold and the dark.
I was no longer just a photographer.
I was the woman who survived.
May you like
And with Cassian Rossi by my side,
I knew I would never drown again.
