Meanwhile, inside the grand, high-rise executive office of Colton Financial...The afternoon sun was slowly giving way to heavy dark clouds outside the massive glass windows. Gerald Colton sat behind his mahogany desk, a glass of expensive amber whiskey held loosely between his fingers. He swirled the liquid, watching the ice cubes clink against the crystal.The heavy office door opened, and Zack stepped inside.Gerald didn't lift his head. "Is it done?""Yes, sir," Zack reported smoothly, adjusting his suit jacket. "I took care of the evidence. The boy named Nick will no longer be talking to anyone, and all digital traces linking Tina to the street gang have been permanently purged."Gerald took a quiet sip of his drink, letting the burn settle in his throat. "Good. What about the girl? Nancy?""Nancy seems to be completely missing, sir," Zack replied, stepping closer to the desk. "She hasn't returned to her home, nor has she been admitted to any local hospital under her name."Zack

The silence inside the Rusty Anchor Lounge was so thick you could hear the blood dripping onto the floorboards. The man with dreadlocks was on his knees, clutching his torn, bleeding head, gasping for air as pure agony flooded his senses. The rest of the gang stood paralyzed, their weapons hanging uselessly in their hands, their crude laughter replaced by pure terror. Clara didn't give the bleeding man a single second to recover. She reached down, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and violently slammed his face directly into the hard oak surface of a nearby pool table! BANG! The wooden table groaned under the impact, balls scattering in every direction. The man let out a muffled groan, his nose breaking on impact. Clara pulled her smartphone from her dark coat with her left hand, unlocking the screen with a flick of her thumb. She held the glowing display an inch away from the man's swollen, tear-filled eyes. The screen showed a bright, smiling picture of Nancy in her

"Shoot him! Somebody shoot him!" the bartender screamed from behind the counter, reaching down for a shotgun hidden under the register! Dorian heard the metallic click of the shotgun hammer being cocked. Without breaking his rhythm, Dorian kicked a wooden chair into the air, caught it by the legs, and hurled it across the room like a missile! CRASH! The chair struck the bartender square in the chest just as he lifted the barrel, crashing him through the glass liquor shelves behind him in a shower of colorful bottles and cheap booze! Five more thugs tried to swarm Dorian at once, trying to pin his arms through sheer numbers. Dorian lowered his center of gravity, exhaling a deep, controlled breath from his diaphragm. As the men grabbed his arms, Dorian flexed his core, drove his heels into the floorboards, and executed a massive, sweeping hip throw! THUD! THUD! Two men flew over his shoulders, crashing violently into each other before hitting the floor. Dorian spun around, execut

Clara slowly turned her head, her dark eyes settling on Eren. She didn't move an inch.Eren stopped ten feet away, rolling his heavy shoulders. "Now my boss has ordered me to kill you. Unlucky day for you, old lady."Clara stared into Eren's eyes, her tone completely flat. "Take me to your boss."Eren blinked, then burst into a harsh, mocking laugh that rattled the overhead light fixtures. "Take you to my boss? Are you stupid?!"Eren took two heavy steps forward, his combat boots thudding against the floor. "I'm not like those weak little punks out in the bar! I don't talk, hag! I put people like you straight into a grave!"Inside the fraud room, the teenagers glued their faces to the window glass, watching the confrontation with wide, excited eyes."Man, that woman is completely dead," the boy who made $20,000 whispered, shaking his head. "Eren is the strongest guy in the entire building. I saw him break a guy's spine with his bare hands last month.""She should have stayed in her ki

Jax swallowed hard, trying to regain his composure. He set his glass down on the desk, reached into his suit jacket, and pulled out a pair of dark designer sunglasses, sliding them over his eyes to hide the sudden, nervous twitch in his eyelid.He leaned forward, trying to project his usual aura of absolute authority. "I don't care who she is," Jax gritted out through his teeth, his voice laced with cold, hidden venom. "She walked into the wrong room today. She is here, and she will not leave alive! Break all her bones!"Hearing their boss's command, the men in the room- about twenty armed thugs who had been lounging in the adjacent private lounge surged forward! They pulled out brass knuckles, heavy iron pipes, switchblades, and wooden clubs, surrounding Clara.Clara didn't say a single word. She didn't raise her hands to defend herself.Instead, her sharp eyes swept across the luxurious desk in front of Jax.Sitting right on top of a stack of scattered money wads was a small, pink s