Chapter 3 - Shadows in the Booth
The silence inside Sullivan’s Diner grew so thick it felt solid, heavy as lead.
Viktor didn't move an inch. His hand remained inside his jacket, resting near the suppressed weapon, but his eyes never left Vance’s face. The twins had gone completely still against his chest, sensing the shift in the air, their tiny heartbeats thumping against Viktor’s ribs like trapped birds.
"You think you won, Jonathan," Viktor said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. "You think because my detail was ambushed on the bridge last night, and because my wife is gone, that the house of cards I built has no foundation."
Vance leaned down slightly, resting his weight on the wolf-headed cane. "Your wife’s car went off the Zakim Bridge into twenty feet of black water, Viktor. The police pulled her body out at 3 a.m. The accident report is already filed. Case closed. And you—you crawled away like a wounded dog with two babies you have no idea how to raise."
Elara stood frozen by the counter, the world spinning around her. His wife is dead. The woman who had given birth to those two infants had drowned in the harbor while Viktor was hunted through the rain.
"She didn't drive off that bridge," Viktor said, and for the first time, a crack of pure, unadulterated agony cut through his icy composure. "Your men put her in the water."
"Prove it," Vance smiled, spreading his hands. "The city belongs to the board now. The police chief is on our payroll, the judges are dining at my estate tonight, and your accounts have been frozen under federal counter-terrorism mandates. You’re a ghost, Viktor. And this waitress?" Vance glanced at Elara with casual cruelty. "She’s just an unfortunate collateral casualty who happened to leave her back door unlocked."
Vance’s fingers twitched on his cane. With a subtle flick of his wrist, a hidden six-inch steel blade slid from the bottom of the ebony shaft with a sharp clack.
"It’s been a long war, old friend," Vance said, raising the cane like a spear. "Let’s finish it."
Before Vance could lunge, Elara didn't think. She didn't calculate the risk or remember her debt. She grabbed the heavy, industrial-sized ceramic coffee urn from the burner—still boiling, still piping hot—and hurled it straight across the counter.
It didn't hit Vance; it hit the floor right between his polished Italian leather shoes, shattering into a thousand pieces and splashing scalding brown liquid and coffee grounds all over his trousers.
Vance shrieked, stumbling back in shock, his cane slipping on the slick tile.
"Now, Viktor!" Elara screamed.
Viktor moved with terrifying speed. In half a second, he crossed the floor, slamming Vance backward against the front window glass. The glass cracked in a spiderweb pattern, rattling the framed menus on the wall. Viktor’s forearm pressed hard against Vance’s throat, cutting off his air, while his left hand brought the suppressed pistol up, pressing the cold black barrel directly under Vance’s chin.
"You talk too much, Jonathan," Viktor whispered, his breath hot against the executive’s ear.
Outside, the two men in raincoats outside saw the struggle through the glass and immediately drew their weapons, rushing toward the front door.
"Boss!" one of them yelled, slamming his shoulder against the locked glass.
Viktor didn't look back. He pressed the barrel harder into Vance’s skin. "Call your dogs off, Jonathan. Or the next sound you hear won't be a business negotiation."
Vance, choking and gasping for air, his face turning purple, reached up and grabbed Viktor’s wrist. He croaked out a single word to the men outside through the glass: "Back... down..."
May you like
The two enforcers stopped dead in their tracks, their guns lowered just an inch, staring through the glass in horror as their boss held a gun to his chin.
"Good dog," Viktor murmured. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a low, lethal hum. "You think Apex owns South Boston? You think freezing my accounts stops me? I built this syndicate from the gutters up, Vance. Every brick, every dollar, every cop. And before the sun sets tonight, I’m going to take back every single piece of it."
