Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED SCARFThe rescue led them to an abandoned cannery.
Sloan's heart pounded as they entered.
Raphael's men surrounded the building.
They heard a woman's scream.
“Junie!”
Sloan tried to run inside.
Raphael grabbed her.
“Wait.”
“I hear her!”
“We don't know if that's real.”
Sloan froze.
He was right.
A recording played through the warehouse.
Junie's voice.
“Help me!”
Sloan covered her mouth.
Raphael moved carefully.
They found speakers hidden throughout the building.
A trap.
Then Lucille appeared on the upper platform.
With Junie beside her.
And Charles standing behind them.
Victor was there too.
Guns pointed in every direction.
Raphael stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Lucille smiled.
“You always were your father's son.”
“You kidnapped her.”
“She was leverage.”
Sloan stared at her.
“You destroyed my life.”
Lucille looked at her.
“I protected my own.”
“You made me look like a murderer.”
“No.”
Lucille's eyes hardened.
“I made you look guilty enough that no one would believe you.”
Raphael raised his gun.
“Let my people go.”
Lucille laughed.
“You still think this is about winning.”
“What is it about?”
“Control.”
Charles stepped forward.
“Your father built an empire and then tried to hand it to the government.”
Victor added,
“We couldn't allow that.”
Raphael looked at them.
“So you killed Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“You attacked me.”
“Yes.”
“You ruined Sloan's career.”
Charles nodded.
“Yes.”
Sloan felt sick.
“Why me?”
Charles answered.
“Because Daniel trusted you.”
She frowned.
“I had never met him.”
Charles smiled.
“He had seen you.”
“What?”
“At the hospital.”
Sloan remembered.
Daniel had been there months before his death.
Walking past her.
Watching.
She thought he was just another visitor.
Instead, he had been investigating the same system that would later destroy her.
Raphael's expression changed.
“He chose her.”
Lucille nodded.
“Because he knew you would eventually find each other.”
Sloan stared.
“This is insane.”
“Perhaps.”
Lucille looked at Raphael.
“But Daniel believed you needed someone who had survived being destroyed.”
The words hit him.
Raphael slowly lowered his gun.
“You used her.”
Lucille's face softened.
“Yes.”
Sloan shook her head.
“You're just like them.”
Lucille frowned.
“What?”
“You claim everything you do is protection.”
Sloan's voice strengthened.
“But you keep hurting people and calling it love.”
Silence.
Lucille stared at her.
Then a shot rang out.
Victor fired.
Raphael shoved Sloan aside.
The bullet struck him in the shoulder.
He collapsed.
Sloan screamed.
“Raphael!”
Daniel Bishop returned fire.
Chaos exploded.
Sloan crawled toward Junie.
Charles grabbed her.
He pulled her backward.
Then Junie slammed her head into his face.
Charles staggered.
Sloan grabbed Junie's hand.
“Run!”
They sprinted.
Outside, Moretti security overwhelmed the guards.
Victor disappeared through a side exit.
Charles escaped into the darkness.
Lucille remained.
She looked at Raphael, bleeding on the floor.
Then at Sloan.
“He loves you.”
Sloan stopped.
“How do you know?”
“Because I watched him learn how.”
Then Lucille lowered her weapon.
“I was wrong.”
She surrendered.
Raphael was rushed to the hospital.
Sloan stayed beside him all night.
The doctors said he would recover.
But the pain was bad.
Very bad.
At 2:13 a.m., he woke screaming.
Sloan held his hand.
“Raphael.”
“My foot.”
“I know.”
“It’s burning.”
She breathed slowly.
“With me.”
His eyes found hers.
“Don't leave.”
“I won't.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
His body trembled.
“Sing.”
Sloan stared.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
She began the old coastal song.
Her voice cracked.
Raphael closed his eyes.
The pain eased slowly.
Not gone.
But quieter.
When the song ended, he whispered,
“Sloan.”
“Yes?”
“I think I know why it still hurts.”
She leaned closer.
“Why?”
“Because every time I feel it…”
He swallowed.
“…I remember the man I was before everything happened.”
“What man?”
“A man who believed he could survive losing everyone.”
Sloan touched his cheek.
“You don't have to be that man anymore.”
He looked at her.
“Stay?”
She smiled.
“I told you.”
Then she kissed his forehead.
May you like
Raphael's eyes closed.
For the first time in seven months, he slept without screaming.
