July 16, 2026 – Hudson River Miller's Armored Boat 04:45 AM
The boat's engine roared like a massive beast tearing through the night. Miller gripped the helm as if what we were fleeing wasn't death itself, but a ghost from my father's past. Natalia lay on the floor of the boat, her head in Ivy's lap. Ivy had torn her own jacket into strips, pressing them against Natalia's leg to stem the bleeding.
"What happened to the coward Miller from the Chicago PD?" I shouted over the howling wind. "Why did you run from me that night, Miller?"
Miller replied without taking his eyes off the flames of the explosion on the horizon. "I didn't run from you, Michael; I hid you from Thomas's eyes. If you had surrendered there that night, Thomas would have destroyed you long before he ever put you on an operating table. Your father, Richard, knew how far Thomas would go. He knew you would steal that leather notebook from Sterling. That notebook isn't just a list of names, Michael; it's the key to the massive 'fortune' Thomas buried in the New York harbor!"
I pulled the notebook from my bag. It was damp, but the pages were still legible. "Are you saying this notebook is a code?"
"Thomas isn't blowing up the harbor just to spread terror," Miller said, increasing the boat's speed. "He's destroying the evidence. Everything on those ships was supposed to be laundered using the codes in that notebook. Now, he's going to burn it all, frame you for the crime, and collect billions in insurance money. And worst of all... Elara might be on one of those ships."
I fixed my gaze on the orange glow on the horizon. If Elara was there, would Thomas really throw his own niece into that fire?
Suddenly, the boat's sonar screen filled with red signals. Miller cursed. "It's not the Coast Guard. It's Thomas's underwater drones!"
The boat shuddered from a metallic impact coming from beneath the water. As Ivy screamed, Natalia groaned in pain. Thomas Hale was about to finish under the water what he couldn't finish on land.