My husband had been pretending to go to work for an entire week, but when I followed him to a secret building and saw who walked out beside him, I realized the person destroying my marriage was someone I trusted with my life…

The pier exploded into chaos.

Gunfire crackled through the thick red smoke, the bullets pinging violently off the corrugated metal of shipping containers.

Daniel grabbed my hand with an iron grip, while I latched onto Vivian’s wrist. We bolted into the narrow maze between two towering rows of rusted cargo boxes.

"Where are we going?" Vivian cried, stumbling on the uneven asphalt.

"The old maintenance slipway!" Daniel shouted over the sound of shouting men behind us. "There's a service ladder leading to the upper roadway!"

Footsteps pounded on the wet gravel behind us. Sterling's men weren't amateurs; they were spreading out to flank us.

"Split up!" I yelled. "They're herding us toward the dead end of the pier!"

"No! We stay together!" Daniel roared, pulling us around a sharp corner.

Suddenly, a bulky figure stepped out from behind a green container directly in our path, his pistol raised.

Without breaking stride, Daniel threw his entire weight forward, tackling the guard into the gravel. The man's gun went off into the air, the crack echoing like thunder against the metal walls. Daniel slammed his fist into the guard's jaw, knocking him dazed, and scrambled back to his feet, grabbing the dropped pistol.

"Keep moving!" Daniel ordered, his face covered in soot and sweat.

We reached the rusted iron ladder at the edge of the seawall. Above us ran the deserted lower bypass road.

"Vivian, you first! Go!" Daniel urged.

Vivian scrambled up the rungs with frantic speed. I followed right behind her, my boots slipping on the cold, rusted metal.

Down below, Daniel stood guard at the foot of the ladder, his weapon aimed into the dark corridor.

Two more of Sterling’s men rounded the corner, opening fire. Daniel fired back twice, forcing them behind cover, but a sharp grunt escaped his lips. He stumbled backward against the ladder, clutching his side.

"Daniel!" I screamed from halfway up the wall.

"Keep climbing, Nora! Don't stop!" he snarled through clenched teeth.

He gripped the ladder with one hand and began ascending, using pure adrenaline to propel himself upward.

Vivian reached the concrete barrier of the roadway first, reaching down to haul me over the edge. Together, we turned and grabbed Daniel’s jacket, pulling him over the barrier just as bullets chipped the concrete beneath our feet.

Daniel collapsed onto the pavement, his breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps. Blood was already soaking through his dark jacket, blooming across his left ribcage.

"You're shot," I sobbed, tearing off my woolen scarf to press it against the wound.

"It's... it's a graze," Daniel lied, grimacing in agony. "Listen to me... the flash drive isn't on me. It never was."

Vivian stared at him. "What? Daniel, where is it?"

Daniel looked up at me, his eyes fierce and unyielding.