2025-10-18 23:57:47
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Elsa sat in the quiet parlor, her hands twisting the edge of her blanket. The clock ticked loud in the silence. She tried to read, tried to breathe steady, but her chest hurt with worry. Ethan had been gone too long. Too long.She looked toward the big door every few minutes, hoping, waiting. Then she heard it — the sound of the lock turning, the door creaking open.Her heart jumped. She ran before she even thought about it.“Ethan!” she cried out.He stood there in the doorway, wet from the rain, mud on his boots, his shirt a bit torn. But he was smiling — that calm, quiet smile of his.“Hey,” he said softly. “I’m home.”Elsa pressed a hand to her mouth. Tears welled up as she stepped closer. “You’re hurt—are you hurt?”He shook his head. “No. I’m fine.”She looked him over anyway, touching his arm, his cheek. “You scared me half to death. I thought—”“I’m fine,” he said again, gently taking her hands. “Bill’s daughter is safe. She’s okay now.”Elsa blinked fast, her breath shaking.
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Ethan reacted fast. He grabbed Bill, shoved him aside, and knocked the gun out of the man’s hand with a sharp twist of his wrist.“Stay down!” Ethan hissed.Bill stumbled but caught himself. Lena’s ropes were fully loosened now. She clung to Ethan, trembling.“Go! Now!” Ethan snapped.They bolted for the metal stairs. The toothless man swore behind them. More footsteps — others were coming.Down the stairs, one step at a time. Heavy, clanging metal. Lena pressed against Ethan. Then he shoved her toward Bill.“Run!” Ethan yelled.Bill grabbed her, lifting her carefully. They splashed into the mud outside. Ethan circled back, low and fast, cutting off anyone trying to follow.The city was alive with the sound of shouts and running feet. Bill and Lena slipped into the tall grass by the riverbank. Mud soaked through their clothes.Lena’s hands clung to Bill’s neck. She was shaking, crying quietly.Bill held her close. “You’re safe now… you’re safe,” he whispered, rocking slightly.They s
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Bill met Ethan at the outskirts of the old textile mill. Broken windows. Graffiti. Wind howling through the rafters. The place smelled like oil and mildew.Ethan checked his watch. “3:12 a.m.,” he said softly.He surveyed quietly. Two guards outside. One moving inside, light flickering from his flashlight. Ethan nodded toward the office upstairs. One bulb flickered through a crack in the window. That’s where Lena was.He turned to Bill. “Listen. Four steps. Keep it simple.”Bill nodded, gripping the edge of his jacket.“Step one,” Ethan said. “Distract them. Make noise somewhere they’ll look.”“Step two?” Bill asked.“Draw them out. You hit the side gate. Keep it small. Don’t get seen.”“Step three?”“Flank. I move in from the other side. Silent. Quick.”“And four?” Bill whispered.“Extract. Get her out. Fast. Stay low. Stay quiet.”Bill swallowed hard. “I can do that.”Ethan clapped him lightly on the shoulder. “Good. One chance. Don’t screw it up.”Bill nodded. He crept toward the
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The docks were quiet, the kind of quiet that pressed against your ears. Water slapped against the rusted hulls of moored ships, and the occasional creak of a swaying crane broke the silence.Ethan moved low, a shadow among shadows, scanning every corner, every pile of crates. His eyes caught the van first—a gray, dented thing with its rear door half-hidden under a worn tarp. Leaning against it was a man he assumed was Cray, one hand shoved in his pocket, the other holding a cigarette. Two more men lounged lazily in a parked sedan nearby.Cray’s voice cut through the night. “You think he’s coming alone?” one of the men muttered.“Kid’s not smart enough to bring friends,” Cray replied, exhaling smoke. “Boss says the girl’s coming along. Good move keeping quiet—makes it easy for me.”Ethan crouched behind a stack of shipping crates, eyes locked on him.A train screamed past in the distance, metal grinding against metal. Enough noise. Ethan moved. Fast, silent, sliding through the darkne
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The man’s back hit the metal door with a hard clang. Ethan’s hand pinned him there by the throat. Rain dripped from his sleeve onto the man’s soaked shirt.“Try again,” Ethan said quietly, his voice calm but lethal.The guy’s smirk faltered. His eyes flicked toward the dark behind Ethan, where Bill waited nervously.“I—I told you,” the man stammered. “I don’t know any Lena.”Ethan didn’t squeeze harder. He just stared. The silence was worse than pain—it made the man start talking faster, desperate to fill it.“I don’t—I don’t even know who you mean—”Ethan tilted his head. “You smoke those cheap imports from the dock stalls, right? Menthols. Bill found one near his window. You were there.”The man’s mouth opened, but no sound came. Ethan didn’t smile.“You broke in,” Ethan said, voice calm. “You cut the lines. You took her.”“I didn’t—listen—” The man coughed, trying to breathe. Panic was creeping in. “It wasn’t me, okay? I just… Parker Bellano sent someone.”Ethan didn’t flinch. He w
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Parker’s fists were still clenched. He paced across the rooftop, Bella following nervously. “This… this doesn’t make sense. How the hell does one man—just one—take out three of my best guys like they were nothing?”Bella bit her lip. “Maybe… maybe he’s stronger than you think, Parker.”“Stronger?” Parker spat the word like it was poison. “No one is stronger than me! No one!”Meanwhile, across the city, the warehouse by the river was quiet. Bill huddled in the corner, hugging his knees, staring at the dark water outside the broken windows. His hands shook, but he had kept his promise to Ethan—he had come alone, as instructed.A faint sound made him freeze. Footsteps. Heavy. Slow. Then a shadow appeared at the far end of the warehouse.“Bill,” a voice called softly. Calm. Strong. Certain.Bill looked up fast. “Master!”Ethan stepped out of the shadows, coat damp from the rain, his face unreadable. “You’re here. Good. Are you hurt?”Bill shook his head. “No… no, not me. But Lena—she’s go
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