Chapter 4 - THE SUBTERRANEAN LABYRINTH
The gun barrel gleamed wetly under the harsh emergency lights.
Marceline's knuckles were stark white around the grip.
Rain poured down the open garage ramp in sheets.
Evander did not take a single step backward.
His gaze remained fixed on the small weapon.
"You don't have the stomach for it, Marceline," he said.
"You never did."
"Things change when you're cornered like a rat," she hissed.
Her mascara ran down her cheeks in black streaks.
"You think you own this city, Evander."
"You think your syndicate makes the rules."
"But Graham and I built this empire from the shadows."
Daisy crouched behind a nearby concrete pillar.
Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.
She reached into her apron pocket and touched the burner phone.
Should she call the guards? Or wait for Evander's signal?
Evander raised his right hand slowly, showing an empty palm.
"Put the gun down, Marceline."
"Let's talk about Leo."
At the mention of the boy's name, Marceline hesitated.
Her lower lip quivered uncontrollably.
"Leo is gone," she whispered, her voice cracking.
"Gone to a place where you can never touch him."
"A place where my family finally gets our revenge."
Suddenly, a heavy shadow detached from the ceiling pipes.
A figure dropped silently behind Marceline's car.
It was Viktor, the head of Evander's inner security detail.
Before Marceline could pull the trigger, Viktor moved.
He smashed the driver's side window with a heavy iron wrench.
Glass exploded inward like a cascade of diamonds.
Marceline screamed as Viktor grabbed her wrist.
The silver pistol clattered uselessly onto the concrete floor.
Viktor yanked the car door open and dragged her out.
She hit the wet pavement hard, her garnet gown ruining.
Evander walked forward slowly, his boots crunching on glass.
He stood over her trembling form with icy detachment.
"Where is my son?" he repeated, his voice dangerously low.
Marceline spat blood onto his polished leather shoes.
"Ask Graham," she laughed maniacally.
"He's waiting for you at the old shipyard warehouse."
"The one where it all started six years ago."
Evander nodded to Viktor.
"Lock her in the basement vault."
"Nobody speaks to her. Nobody feeds her."
"Until I return."
Viktor hauled Marceline to her feet by her hair.
She cursed in fluent Italian as they dragged her away.
Daisy stepped out from behind the concrete pillar.
Water dripped from the hem of her black uniform dress.
Evander turned his dark, intense gaze toward her.
"You should have stayed inside, Daisy," he warned.
"I couldn't just hide, Mr. Cole," she replied steadily.
"Your son was a child at St. Jude's."
"I remember his admission chart."
Evander stopped dead in his tracks.
His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
"What did you just say?"
"You worked at St. Jude's Hospital?"
Daisy nodded slowly, wiping rain from her forehead.
"I was a junior nurse on duty that exact night."
"The night little Leo was brought in."
"The official story never made sense to any of us."
Evander closed the distance between them in two strides.
His massive frame towered over her in the dim light.
"Tell me everything," he commanded.
"Every single detail you remember."
Daisy took a deep breath, steeling her nerves.
"The ambulance arrived without sirens."
"Two men in dark suits carried a wrapped stretcher inside."
"They weren't doctors or paramedics."
"And the child on that stretcher..."
Daisy paused, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"He wasn't wet. His clothes were completely dry."
"He didn't drown in the pool."
Evander's breath caught in his throat.
A year of agonizing grief hardened into pure, unadulterated rage.
"Dry..." he murmured, the word tasting like poison.
"They staged the entire drowning."
"To break me from the inside out."
"Yes," Daisy confirmed, looking straight into his eyes.
"And Graham was the man who signed the intake sheet."
Evander clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.
"The old shipyard warehouse," he muttered.
"That's where Graham is hiding."
"And that's where my son is waiting."
He turned toward his private armored SUV idling nearby.
He opened the passenger door and looked back at Daisy.
"Get in," Evander ordered.
"You're coming with me."
"You're my only witness to the truth."
Daisy did not hesitate.
She climbed into the leather passenger seat.
The engine roared to life as Evander slammed his door.
They sped out of the subterranean garage into the torrential rain.
The New York night swallowed their vehicle whole.
Heading straight toward the abandoned docks.
May you like
Where ghosts from the past were waiting to be burned alive.
[CLIFFHANGER: As the SUV pulls up to the dark warehouse, the headlights illuminate a small child's shoe lying in the mud—and a timer ticking loudly from inside.]
