Chapter 20: Loading Dock

Caleb went through the kitchen doors at a run.

Cooks flattened themselves against the steel counters, and a tray of glasses crashed behind him.

Nina was one step behind him, her heels in her hand.

The corridor ended at a loading dock open to the night.

A black sedan stood at the edge of the concrete with its engine running and its door wide.

Desmond was halfway into it, his phone in one hand and his tie torn loose.

"Desmond!"

He turned.

His left cheek was swollen red where his father had hit him, and his eyes were wide.

"Get out of my way," he said.

"No."

"You're nothing, Merrick. You were nothing when you went in, and you're nothing now. I have a lawyer."

"You have a phone," Caleb said. "The police will have it in a moment."

Desmond looked over his shoulder.

A white van was backing into the dock behind him, slowly, with its lights off.

It stopped across the exit.

The driver's window rolled down, and a thin man in a courier's cap looked out.

"Mr. Ashburton," he said. "It's not the first of the month."

Desmond stared at him.

"Move the van."

"The man with the cane called me an hour ago." The courier shrugged.

"He said, deliver a package. So I'm delivering one."

Behind him, the detective came out of the kitchen with two uniformed officers and Bernard's guard.

Desmond slammed the car door and ran for the dock steps.

He got four feet.

The guard from Bernard's team caught his collar, and an officer took his arm.

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