She woke up to her own worst nightmare, trapped in the wreckage of a framed crime.

Mark stood over Julian, his boot stomping down hard on Julian’s outstretched wrist. Bone cracked beneath his heel, making Julian shriek in agony as the flash drive slid the final two inches and dropped into the deep, dark ocean waters below, vanishing forever into the abyss.

"No!" Julian screamed, watching his empire drown. "No!"

Behind them, a sharp gunshot echoed over the thunder. Mark spun around to see Viktor standing near the crane, a smoking pistol in his hand, while Elena slumped against the side of a cargo container, clutching her bleeding shoulder.

"Elena!" Mark roared.

He lunged across the pier with terrifying speed, ignoring the bullet that grazed his neck. He tackled Viktor over the low wooden guardrail of the pier. They plummeted twenty feet down into the freezing, turbulent waters of the Hudson River.

Underneath the black surface, Mark fought with savage desperation. The freezing water burned his lungs as Viktor struck his face repeatedly with heavy, brutal blows. But Mark’s love for his family gave him an unbreakable iron grip.

He locked his arms around Viktor’s vest, driving them deeper down toward the riverbed until Viktor’s struggles grew weak, air bubbles escaping the mercenary’s mouth as he sank into the dark depths.

Mark kicked furiously toward the surface, breaking through the cold waves, gasping for air. He pulled himself up the rusty ladder at the edge of the pier, collapsing onto the wet deck beside Elena.