CHAPTER NINETY-TWThe street was quiet, too quiet.Richard stood still on the cold asphalt while the lead man’s words echoed in his head:“Your father left instructions… for us to come for you.”It didn’t make sense.Nothing made sense.His father had died years ago. A quiet man. A private man. A man who never raised his voice, never broke rules, never got involved in trouble.At least… that was the image Richard grew up with.Now everything felt like a lie.The lead man watched him, expression calm but unreadable.“Mr. Gray,” he said, “we need to leave. Now.”Richard didn’t move.“Explain what you just said.”“I can’t explain it here,” the man responded. “We’re exposed. And Thomas isn’t the only one watching you tonight.”Richard’s fingers tightened around the metal rod he still held behind his leg.“You take me anywhere without explaining,” he said, “and I’ll fight you. All of you.”The man exhaled like he expected resistance.“Your father predicted you’d say that.”Richard blinked.

Richard followed the man in the black suit out of the company compound, his heartbeat thumping so loud he could feel it in his ears.The parking lot was still.No one else was outside.Just him… and the stranger with the lion-head tattoo.The man didn’t look back as he walked toward the road.His steps were calm.Almost casual.Richard’s palms were sweating.This is a trap.Every step I take is a risk.But if I walk away, Diane becomes the target.He swallowed hard and kept moving.When they reached the gate, two motorcycles stopped across the street. Both riders wore black helmets, no faces, no expressions, no identity.The man in the suit nodded at them.Richard’s voice finally came out. “Where are we going?”“Somewhere quiet,” the man replied. “You’ll be returned in one piece if you behave.”“And if I don’t behave?”The man smiled lightly.“You won’t have the chance to misbehave.”Richard clenched his jaw.He didn’t like this.He didn’t like any of it.The man pointed at the back o

Richard didn’t sleep that night.He couldn’t.He sat on the living-room couch with the lights off, staring at the photo of Diane. The more he looked at it, the more his chest tightened. His wife… smiling… completely unaware that someone had taken her picture from a hidden spot. Completely unaware that a criminal organization had written a warning behind her back.Every sound outside made him jump.Every passing motorcycle made his heart pound.His house used to feel like safety.Now it felt like a trap.A place where someone could be watching at any time.He rubbed his face with both hands, breathing hard.“I can’t drag you into this,” he whispered to the empty room. “I swore I’d protect you… not ruin your life.”He stood up and paced.He replayed the conversation in that abandoned building again and again.Thomas is one of us…She’s alive… for now…Your wife becomes a widow…It wasn’t just a warning.It was a countdown.Richard checked his phone for the tenth time.Still nothing from

The night felt colder as Richard, Brian, and Guy stepped out of the ruined workshop. The air carried that heavy silence that usually followed chaos, the kind that left nerves raw and breaths shaky.Brian kept glancing behind them, like he expected the suited man and his men to return. Guy held his throat with one hand, wincing each time he swallowed. Richard walked ahead, shoulders stiff, bruises forming across his arms.But none of them noticed the tiny red camera light blinking above the workshop roof.They just walked.No one spoke for almost two minutes.Then Guy finally croaked out, “Boss… where are we going? My shift ended thirty minutes ago. I’m supposed to sign out.”Richard didn’t stop walking. “Guy, forget your shift. They attacked you too. You need to lie low.”Guy frowned. “Lie low where? I live inside the scrapyard.”“We can’t go back there,” Richard said sharply. “If they return and see you, ”Guy raised his hand. “I get it. I get it. But at least tell me who the hell th

The wind outside howled like a warning.Inside the small living room, everyone sat stiff and silent. The laptop screen still showed the last frame of Amber’s message, a frozen picture of her frightened face.Richard closed the laptop gently, but his mind was far from calm.Diane sat opposite him, fingers trembling on her lap. Brian leaned against the wall, sweating even though the room wasn’t hot. Guy sat near the door with an iron rod across his legs like a guard dog.No one spoke for a long while.Finally, Diane whispered, “What does she mean by… ‘they know everything’? Richard… what exactly did you get yourself into?”Richard exhaled slowly. “I didn’t get myself into anything. They dragged me into it.”Diane shook her head. “Richard, this is not normal. People don’t just get monitored. They don’t kidnap someone’s colleague and leave video warnings. This is, this is too much.”Guy raised his hand. “Madam, with all due respect… this is more than too much. This is pure madness.”Brian