Page 70 of Shades of Loyalty
Chapter Twenty-eight
Daniel
The faint sound of water slapping against the pier is the only thing that breaks the oppressive silence of the dark night.
The shipment should be here any minute now. I glance at my wristwatch—again. Thirty seconds pass, then I do it once more.
Anxiety gnaws at me, heavy, relentless. Three minutes left. Just three more fucking minutes.
The stress is unbearable. The kind of stress that coils up inside, tightens every muscle, makes my pulse race.
What if the ship doesn’t show? What if it’s setup? My body feels like it's on cocaine, all hot and electrified, the hairs on my neck standing up. Every muscle ready to snap.
Yuri is here somewhere. I can feel his presence, even if I can’t see him. I know his men are in their positions—every one of them a piece of the puzzle.
Four snipers are posted on rooftops, scopes trained on the crowd below, scanning for any sign of a threat. If the snitch shows up, one of them will take him out.Instinct. Clean. Precise.
This is it—the beginning of something much bigger. Or it could all go wrong. My gut tells me something’s off today. My instincts never lie. But it’s not like Iwantit to go wrong.
For once, I wish my instincts would be lying to me.
When I rolled through the city in my black SUV, the anxiety had settled in my chest like a lead weight.
Something’s wrong. I felt it. I should’ve listened to the feeling when I first got that goddamn call.
Two more minutes.
I wonder how Jennifer is doing. She picked up on my tension this morning, tried to comfort me. I could tell she was worried.
It didn’t help that I kept pushing her away—being short with her all day.
The familiar lights of the ship pierce through the darkness.Finally.
The ship’s running late at the dock, but it's here. That’s enough. I push my unease down, shoving the feeling into the back of my mind.
I pull on my bulletproof vest. I insisted on another layer of security. No one leaves anything to chance during ashipment this big. I step out of my hidden spot, scanning the night, looking up at the buildings surrounding us. But I don’t see the snipers—not yet.
That’s a good thing. I know they’re there. We’ve communicated through my walkie-talkie. They’re ready.Fuck, they better be ready.
When I move towards Yuri’s hidden spot, I focus on my men. They’re all in position, acting normal.
Some are tense, but it’s the usual pre-shipment nerves. I watch Julian too. His usual calm is cracked tonight—he’s fidgeting, checking his gun. It’s not like him.
I think he’s scared something might happen tonight, too. I told them before we left, at our meeting. It was a short meeting, but I told them to wear bulletproof vests. I told them to be prepared.
Perhaps, I successfully scared him.
It’ still a shitty feeling gnawing at me—losing my only suspect.
But Julian and I grew closer over the years. Still, we sure as fuck hate each other. We wouldn’t exactly save each other from a dangerous situation if it’d mean we’d harm ourselves in the process.
But none of us would try to kill each other.
It’s not who we are. We handle rivalry differently.
I step into the cramped container where Yuri’s hiding. It’s barely more than a rusty box with a few small peek holes cut out. Yuri turns sharply, gun raised. His eyes narrow at me.
“Jesus, you’re jumpy,” I mutter, my body tensing even though I know it’s just him.
