THE ALL VALLEY KING

Chapter 5: The Warehouse

Alex woke to the taste of copper and chemicals.

His mouth was dry, head throbbing like he'd been hit with a hammer instead of a dart. He was sitting upright, wrists zip-tied to the arms of a metal chair bolted to the concrete floor. Ankles bound the same way. The room smelled of damp stone, motor oil, and old blood. A single overhead bulb swung gently, casting long shadows across bare walls.

Warehouse. Empty except for him, the chair, and a steel table ten feet away. On the table: his phone (screen cracked), wallet, keys, and the folded note he'd had in his pocket for quiz practice.

Two men stood in the corners behind him, out of direct sight but close enough that he heard their breathing. The ones from the sidewalk, maybe. Or new ones. Didn't matter.

He tested the ties. Tight. Professional knots. No immediate give.

Footsteps echoed from the darkness beyond the light. Slow, deliberate. Dress shoes on concrete.

Blake's father stepped into the circle of light.

Preston Harrington looked different from the photos Alex had seen in local magazines: tailored suits at charity galas, smiling beside politicians. Here he wore dark slacks and a black sweater, sleeves pushed up, gold watch catching the bulb's glare. Mid-fifties, trim, the kind of face that looked friendly on television and cold in person.

He stopped at the table, picked up Alex's phone, turned it over in his hands.

"Alexander Vincent," he said, voice smooth, almost conversational. "You have good reflexes. My men said you put up more fight than expected."

Alex stayed silent. Uncle Nico's rule: when outnumbered and tied, listen first. Learn the room.

Preston set the phone down. "My son has a wired jaw because of you. Eating through a straw for weeks. Humiliating for a seventeen-year-old."

Alex met his eyes. "He was beating a freshman against a tree. I stopped it."

Preston smiled without warmth. "That's one version. The one the internet likes. My version is simpler: you assaulted my son on school property. Twice now, if we count Trent."

He walked closer, stopping just outside arm's reach.

"I could have pressed charges. Could still. But expulsion and juvenile records are... small. I prefer lessons that last."

Alex felt the zip ties bite as he shifted slightly. "So you kidnap me instead? That's your lesson?"

Preston's smile thinned. "Careful. You're here because I want a conversation. Nothing more. Yet."

He turned back to the table, picked up the quiz note, unfolded it.

"Smart kid. Scholarship. Good grades. Academic Decathlon. People like you are supposed to know your place. Stay quiet. Work hard. Be grateful."

He let the paper drop.

"You didn't. You made my son a meme. Cost me favors to keep it quiet. Now I need to know if you're going to be a continuing problem."

Alex's head cleared a little more. The tranquilizer fading. He scanned the room again. One visible exit behind Preston. Metal door, probably locked. No windows. Soundproofed, maybe. The two men still silent.

He thought of Mia running back through the gate. Calling the police. Safe now, he hoped.

Preston waited.

Alex spoke finally. "I'm not a problem unless your son makes one."

Wrong answer.

Preston nodded to the shadows.

One of the men stepped forward, fist driving into Alex's ribs. Air exploded from his lungs. Pain bloomed sharp and hot. He gasped, chair creaking.

"Wrong," Preston said calmly. "You're a problem because you think rules don't apply differently to different people. That's dangerous thinking."

Another nod. Second punch, same spot. Alex tasted blood.

He forced his breathing steady. Nico again: Pain is information. Use it.

Preston leaned in closer.

"Here's how this works. You transfer schools. Quietly. Today. I have the forms ready. You tell no one why. You stay away from Crestwood, from Blake, from anyone connected to my family. You vanish from our world. In return, you walk out of here tonight. Simple."

Alex coughed, ribs screaming. "And if I say no?"

Preston straightened. "Then we discuss consequences. Starting with that little bar your father owns. Health code violations are easy to arrange. Liquor license issues. Accidents in the kitchen. Your sister rides the same bus route, doesn't she?"

Cold settled in Alex's gut, deeper than the pain.

Preston watched his face. "Good. You understand stakes."

He turned to leave. "Think about it. We'll talk again in an hour."

The bulb swung as he walked away. Footsteps faded. Door clanged shut.

The two men retreated to their corners.

Alex sat in the returning silence, breathing shallow against cracked ribs. He tested the ties again, slower this time. Left wrist had a fraction more play than the right. The chair was old, bolts maybe loose.

He had an hour.

Back at Crestwood, chaos had erupted.

Security footage showed Mia sprinting through the gate alone, collapsing in the courtyard screaming Alex's name. Teachers rushed out. Police arrived within minutes. Statements taken. The blank spot on the sidewalk searched. No witnesses. No cameras. No trace.

Mia sat in the headmaster's office now, wrapped in a blanket, phone clutched in shaking hands. Officers asked gentle questions. She answered through tears, describing the black SUV, the men, Alex fighting to give her time to run.

She had dialed 911 first. Not Dad.

She couldn't bear to tell him over the phone. Couldn't break him like that. He would blame himself. He always carried too much quietly.

She didn't know he already knew.

At The Anchor, the bar was still closed, sign dark. Richard stood in the office, burner phone in one hand, another in the other.

He had watched Mia run back alone.

He had seen her face.

Now both phones rang with incoming calls: police liaison on one, old contacts on the other.

He answered neither yet.

Instead he opened a drawer, removed an old leather address book, and began writing names on a clean sheet.

Men who still owed him.

Men who remembered the war.

Men who feared the initial V.

The valley had slept for fourteen years.

It was waking up tonight.

And Preston Harrington was about to learn that some lessons lasted longer than others.