Chapter 7 - JUSTICE ON THE TRACKS
Adrian didn't let him run.
He stepped out from behind the steel train wheel, sprinting across the platform with terrifying speed!
Volkov glanced back in terror, firing two wild shots over his shoulder that ricocheted off the tiled cavern walls!
Adrian ducked beneath the fire, leaping over a pile of wooden ties and tackling Volkov hard onto the active subway rails fifty feet down the tunnel!
They crashed down together onto the heavy gravel bed!
Volkov scrambled for his dropped pistol, but Adrian kicked it away into the darkness, pinning the older man down by his throat against the iron track!
"Adrian... wait!" Volkov gasped, his face turning purple under Adrian's grip. "I can give you tens of millions... Swiss accounts... offshore real estate... anything!"
"My father's life wasn't for sale, Volkov," Adrian said, his voice as cold as ice. "And neither is my wife's safety."
A blinding yellow beam of light cut through the dark subway tunnel around the curve.
The low, rhythmic rumble of an oncoming 3:30 AM maintenance train vibrated through the steel rails beneath their backs!
HOOOOONK!
The train's air horn blared through the cavern, fifty yards away and closing fast!
Volkov panicked, screaming in pure terror as he looked at the massive steel engine hurtling toward them! "LET ME UP! IT'S GOING TO HIT US!"
Adrian looked into Volkov's terrified eyes. He didn't flinch.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't leave you on these tracks," Adrian said softly over the deafening roar of the train engine.
"I... I know where your father's personal ring was hidden!" Volkov sobbed, completely broken by terror! "The signet ring with the Moretti crest! I took it from his finger after he died... it's in my coat pocket!"
Adrian reached into Volkov's fur coat, pulling out a heavy gold signet ring engraved with a soaring hawk—his father's long-lost ring.
Adrian slipped the ring onto his own pinky finger.
The train horn blew again—twenty yards away! The high beams illuminated their faces in stark white light!
Adrian grabbed Volkov by his coat lapels, yanking him violently off the track frame and throwing him sideways into the concrete safety trench beside the wall just as the massive steel train roared past them with a deafening screech of iron wheels!
The wind blew Adrian's black hair back as the train thundered between them.
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On the other side of the trench, Volkov lay weeping in the dirt, completely broken, awaiting the arrival of the federal marshals who were already descending the station stairs.
Adrian stood up, adjusting his dark jacket, and walked back toward the platform where Elena was waiting.
