2025-10-19 23:59:15
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
208
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
207
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
206
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
205
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
204
Parker grinned lazily as he answered the call, the bass of the music pounding through the club and rattling the ice in his drink. “Yeah?” he said over the noise. “Speak up, man, I can barely hear you. What’s the news?”Static hissed through the line. For a few seconds, nothing but muffled breathing. Then a strained voice broke through.“Boss… it’s—it’s bad.”Parker’s grin faded. “Bad?” He leaned forward, pressing a finger to his other ear to hear better. “What do you mean bad? You handled him, right?”A pause. Then: “No, Parker,” Red Cap rasped. “He handled us.”Parker chuckled, waiting for the punchline. “Funny. Now tell me what really happened.”“I’m not joking, man.” Red Cap’s voice trembled, low and broken. “He—he’s a monster. We didn’t even touch him. He tore through us like we were kids. Broke Carl’s ribs, split Denny’s lip. I can’t feel my damn arm!”The laugh died in Parker’s throat. His face hardened. “What the hell are you saying?” he snapped, voice rising over the music. “T
203
The three men stumbled into the alley like rag dolls, clothes torn, lips split, blood drying along their temples. They hunched against the damp brick, trying to catch their breath. One of them—Red Cap—pressed a shaking hand to his cheek, eyes wide and unblinking.“He—he moved wrong,” Red Cap whispered, voice raw. “Not like any man I’ve seen. He—he wasn’t human.”Hoodie Guy let out a laugh that was mostly a sob. “Don’t… don’t say that. Don’t say that out loud. He moved—like thunder. One minute we were on top, the next—my ribs felt like they were glass.”The third, a younger kid whose bravado had drained away, kept rubbing at the back of his head. “He grabbed me and I—I thought my skull was gonna pop. He didn’t even look at us like we were people. He looked at us like we were… insects.”Red Cap swallowed. “I’ve been in fights. I’ve seen guys take blows and shrug. But—this? This is different. He just stood there. Like he knew exactly where to put his hands. There’s no way a human—”Hoodi
You may also like
Rise Of The General's Forgotten Son
Dragon Sly89.0K viewsMarcus Hamilton Trillionaire In Disguise
Emerald69.2K viewsSecretly Rich Son in Law
Banin SN192.0K viewsThe Secret Billionaire Son-in-law
Perry will87.0K viewsblood and war.
Mystic beauty239 viewsNo. 1 Consortium Billionaire Strikes Back
PAIGE6.0K viewsThe Ultimate Doctor
Sammy X10.1K viewsRidiculed into Wealth
Lady Dreamer369 views