Chapter 4 - The Threat in the Dark
I didn't resist. I knew that a scene in the middle of the Plaza Hotel would end with me in cuffs and Chloe left alone in our apartment. I let the two security guards escort me through the service doors, down a long, sterile hallway, and out into the freezing alleyway behind the hotel.
They didn't just let me go. They pushed me against the brick wall, the rough stone scraping against the back of my rented tuxedo.
"Listen to me, grease monkey," the larger of the two guards said, his face inches from mine. He had pulled off my mask, throwing it into the wet snow at my feet. "Arthur Montgomery knows exactly who you are. He’s known since you stepped foot in New York three years ago. You’re a mechanic from Brooklyn. You have a daughter named Chloe. You live on a shoestring budget."
My body went cold. They knew about Chloe.
"If you ever approach Ms. Montgomery or the children again," the guard continued, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "your landlord will find a reason to evict you. The child services agency will receive an anonymous tip about the unsafe living conditions of your apartment. And you’ll find yourself out of a job before sunrise. Do you understand me, Leo?"
I stared at him, my vision tunneling with a rage so hot it felt like liquid fire in my veins. "If you touch my daughter..."
"We won't have to touch her," the guard smiled, a cruel, empty expression. "The system will do it for us. Stay in your lane. You’re a ghost from Seattle. Keep it that way."
They turned and walked back inside, slamming the heavy steel door behind them.
I stood in the alleyway, the snow falling softly onto my hair, my breathing ragged. They had threatened Chloe. That was their mistake. I could bear any amount of pain, any amount of poverty, but the moment they brought my daughter into their sick, rich games, they signed their own eviction notice from my mercy.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Marcus again.
May you like
"Marcus," I said, my voice dead and cold. "The Montgomerys just threatened Chloe."
There was a pause on the line, followed by the sound of a match striking. "Then we don't play defensive anymore. Come to the office, Leo. It's time to show these blue-bloods how we fight in the boroughs."
