Saltwater Grudge Chapter Eight: Cold Through the Pier Girders

            The storm was no longer a threat; it was a reality. The wind howled across the promenade, tearing at the signs of the closed-up shops and sending clouds of stinging sand into the air. Julian, soaked to the bone and shivering violently, made his way toward the pier. He had called Elena from a payphone, telling her to meet him there. It was the only place left that felt like neutral ground, though he knew better than to trust the shadows.

            He found her standing near the entrance to the Pavilion, her coat buttoned up to her chin. She looked small and fragile against the backdrop of the raging sea.

            “Julian! Thank God,” she cried, running toward him. “I heard what happened at the lighthouse. I thought you were dead.”

            “Not yet,” Julian said, pulling the oilcloth-wrapped ledger from his shirt. “I found it, Elena. This is what Thomas died for. It’s all here. The smuggling, the bribes, the names. Everything.”

            Elena reached out to touch the book, her fingers trembling. “We have to take it to the police. Now.”

            “No,” Julian said, pulling back. “The police are in this book. Half the council is in this book. We can't trust anyone in this town. We have to go to London. We have to take this to the National Crime Agency.”

            Elena looked at him, and for a second, the grief in her eyes was replaced by something else. Something hard and cold.

            “You don't understand, Julian. I can't leave. This town... it’s all I have.”

            “Thomas is gone, Elena. And if you stay here, you’ll be next.”

            A sudden movement above them caught Julian’s attention. On the upper deck of the pier, a figure was standing, looking down at them. It was Marcus. He held a rifle, the barrel glinting in the pale light of the pier lamps.

            “Give her the book, Julian,” Marcus shouted over the wind. «It’s the only way this ends without more blood.”

            Julian looked at Elena, then back at the book. “You knew? You knew about the ledger all along?”

            Elena’s face crumpled. “They threatened me, Julian. Arthur said that if I didn't find the book for him, he’d burn everything Thomas worked for. He said he’d make sure I ended up just like him. I didn't want you to get hurt. I just wanted it to be over.”

            “It’s never over with people like them,” Julian said, his voice thick with disappointment.

            A gunshot rang out, the bullet whistling past Julian’s ear and shattering a glass panel in the Pavilion doors. He grabbed Elena and dived behind a heavy iron bench.

            “Marcus! Stop!” Elena screamed, but another shot followed, hitting the wood of the bench.

            Julian looked at the pier. It was a maze of levels and hidden corners. He knew he couldn't stay here. He had to get to the end of the pier, to the lifeboat station. If he could get to the radio, he could call for help from outside the town’s influence.

            “Stay here,” Julian commanded Elena. “Don't move.”

            He took off running, weaving between the pillars and the closed-up kiosks. He could hear Marcus’s boots on the metal grating above him. The pier groaned as a massive wave slammed into the pilings, the spray drenching Julian. He reached the stairs and began to climb, his heart hammering against his ribs. He was tired, he was injured, and he was being hunted by a man with nothing left to lose. But he had the truth in his hands, and for the first time in his life, he wasn't going to let it go.