The heavy metal doors of the elevator stopped moving.
Malakai stood inside the small steel box. He raised his pistol and aimed it directly Griffin’s chest.
"What are you doing down here in the dark?" Malakai asked softly. His voice was absolutely deadly.
Griffin did not flinch. He let his entire body shake violently. He widened his milky white eyes in pure, blind terror.
"Mr. Malakai?" Griffin cried out loudly. He waved his free hand in the air like a desperate man. "Is that you? Thank god you are here. The fire alarm went off upstairs. People were screaming."
Malakai narrowed his eyes. He looked at the unconscious, badly burned guard on the floor. Then he looked at the rescued boy.
"You expect me to believe you wandered down here by accident?" Malakai sneered. He pulled the hammer of the pistol back with his thumb. "You untied the street rat."
"I smelled burning meat sir." Griffin panicked perfectly. His voice cracked with genuine-sounding fear. "The pipe exploded. I tripped over the guard. Then I heard a boy crying in the dark room. I had no choice than to cut his ropes. Please, Sir. The building is on fire."
Malakai stared at Giffin. The story was pathetic. But it also made perfect sense for a terrified civilian.
"You are a very unlucky man, Griffin." Malakai said coldly. "Step into the elevator. Leave the boy."
Griffin knew Malakai was going to shoot him the second he stepped inside.
He had to act like a clumsy fool. He took a fast, panicked step forward into the elevator cabin. He completely ignored the personal space of the billionaire and bumped his shoulder violently into Malakai’s chest
Malakai grunted in surprise and stumbled backward against the wall.
At that exact second, Griffin pressed his thumb hard against the handle of his white cane.
The Sovereign terminal inside his pocket sent a brute force override code to the elevator mainframe.
The heavy metal doors slammed shut with terrifying speed.
Malakai tried to raise his gun, but the doors crushed his right arm between the thick steel panels. He screamed in sudden, blinding pain. The heavy pistol fell from his hand and clattered onto the concrete floor of the hallway.
The elevator doors opened slightly, then slammed shut again, trapping the arm of the billionaire completely.
"My arm." Malakai yelled. He kicked wildly at the doors.
Griffin did not waste a single second. He grabbed the dropped pistol from the floor and shoved it into his waistband.
Then he grabbed Sam by the hand .
"Run." Griffin whispered sharply.
They ran down the long concrete hallway. They did not go back toward the stairs. Griffin knew the upper floors were flooding with armed security. He headed for the old maintenance tunnels at the back of the basement.
"I will kill you." Malakai screamed from the trapped elevator. His voice echoed down the dark corridor. "I will hunt you down."
Griffin pushed open a rusty iron grate. He pulled Sam inside the dark, damp tunnel.
They ran through the dirty water. The air smelled like rotting leaves and old mud. Griffin switched his contact lenses back to night vision. He guided Sam perfectly through the pitch black maze.
His ribs burned with absolute agony. Every breath felt like sharp glass in his chest. The beating he took in his apartment was catching up to him. He forced his legs to keep moving. He had to protect the boy.
They ran for a full hour. They crossed beneath the entire city center.
Finally, they reached a heavy wooden door. Griffin knocked three times quickly, then paused, and knocked twice.
The door opened immediately.
Nico stood in the doorway. He held a heavy metal pipe in his hands. When he saw Griffin and Sam, he dropped the pipe and ran forward.
"You are alive." Nico hugged the younger boy tightly. Tears streamed down his dirty face.
Griffin walked into the safehouse. It was an abandoned subway station. Dozens of street kids sat on old mattresses. They looked up with wide, hopeful eyes.
Griffin locked the heavy door behind him. He leaned against the cold stone wall. He finally let out a long, exhausted breath.
He slid down the wall and sat on the floor. Then he clutched his injured ribs that was still aching.
"Are you okay, Griffin?" Nico asked. He walked over and handed Griffin a bottle of clean water.
"I am fine." Griffin said, drinking the water quickly.
Nico looked at the bruised, swollen face of his boss.
"You do not look fine." Nico said quietly. He sat down next to him. "The whole city is going crazy. The Diamond Casino burned completely to the ground. The Jackals did exactly what you paid them to do."
"Good." Griffin said flatly.
"But there is a massive problem." Nico said. He pulled a small stolen tablet from his jacket. He showed the glowing screen to Griffin. "Malakai survived the elevator trap. He just sent a message to every single gang and syndicate in the city."
Griffin looked at the screen.
It was a digital bounty poster. It showed a grainy security photo of Griffin in his white massage uniform, holding his cane.
"One million dollars." Nico read the text out loud. "For the head of the blind masseur. Alive or dead."
Griffin stared at his own face on the screen. The entire criminal underworld was now hunting him. Every thug with a gun was looking for a blind man.
He would find it difficult to go back to the country club.
"What do we do now?" Nico asked. His voice shook with fear. "We are trapped down here."
Griffin stood up slowly. His face was cold and perfectly calm.
"We stop playing defense." Griffin said deeply. "Malakai thinks he is hunting a helpless, blind victim. I am going to show him exactly what the Oracle looks like."
Latest Chapter
Chapter 10
The back room of the tailor shop was completely silent.Griffin sat on a small medical table.Kira carefully removed the old medical tape. She applied a strong smelling herbal ointment to his ribs, then wrapped them tightly with fresh, medical grade bandages."The swelling is going down." Kira said quietly. She secured the end of the white bandage. "But your ribs are heavily bruised. If you take another hit to the chest, the bone will snap and puncture your lung. You need absolute rest.""I do not have time to rest." Griffin said. He slowly put on a clean white t-shirt. The simple movement sent a sharp spike of pain through his side. He gritted his teeth and forced his breathing to remain steady."Malakai is bankrupt." Kira pointed out. She crossed her arms. "The bounty on the blind masseur is cancelled because nobody is paying for it. You won. You have hundreds of millions of dollars right now. You can disappear."Griffin reached into his pocket. He pulled out the small plastic case
Chapter 9
Malakai stood perfectly still, his finger resting heavily on the trigger."Take off the jacket." Malakai repeated. His voice was a harsh, deadly whisper. "If I see medical tape, you die right here."Griffin did not reach for his buttons. He did not raise his hands in surrender.Instead, he threw his head back and laughed.It was a deep, arrogant laugh. It was the laugh of a man who held absolute power.Malakai frowned. His hand shook slightly holding the heavy gun. He expected fear. He expected panic. He did not expect the man in front of him to find the situation funny."You think I am your missing masseur?" Griffin asked. He smiled a cold, mocking smile. "You think a billionaire venture capitalist works part time rubbing your tight shoulders in a basement?""My security chief saw you on the cameras." Malakai snapped. "You were typing on an encrypted terminal. You have a data siphon. You are the Oracle.""I am Arthur Cross." Griffin said smoothly. He took a slow step forward. The bar
Chapter 8
Malakai looked up and frowned at the stranger. "Excuse me." Malakai said coldly. He cradled his broken arm in the white sling. "Do I know you?""My name is Arthur Cross." Griffin said smoothly. He held out his right hand. He kept his voice deep and perfectly steady. Malakai hesitated, then shook the hand with his good left hand."I do not recognize the name." Malakai said suspiciously. "And I know everyone with money in this city.""I operate mostly out of London." Griffin smiled politely. "I specialize in distressed assets. I buy beautiful things that have recently caught on fire."Malakai stiffened. His eyes flashed with sudden anger. The mention of the fire was a direct insult about his destroyed casino."Are you mocking me, Mr. Cross?" Malakai asked in a deadly whisper."I am offering you a lifeline." Griffin replied calmly. He took another sip of his champagne. "The entire room knows you are bleeding cash. The casino bombing cost you half a billion dollars in physical assets a
Chapter 7
The safehouse was quiet. The street kids were finally asleep on their old mattresses.Griffin sat on a broken wooden chair in the corner of the room. He held a small roll of medical tape. He tightly wrapped the tape around his bruised chest. He hissed sharply in pain. His ribs were definitely fractured.He put on a clean black t-shirt. He needed time to heal, but time was a luxury he did not possess. Malakai was destroying the city looking for him.Griffin pulled his encrypted terminal from his pocket.He had to strike back immediately. But he could not walk the streets. The bounty on the blind masseur made his current face a walking target. He needed to shed the disguise completely.He reached up to his eyes and carefully pinched the milky white contact lenses. He pulled them out and dropped them into a small glass of water.His real eyes were a striking, piercing dark brown. They looked sharp and incredibly dangerous. He looked like a completely different person.He pulled the small
Chapter 6
The heavy metal doors of the elevator stopped moving.Malakai stood inside the small steel box. He raised his pistol and aimed it directly Griffin’s chest."What are you doing down here in the dark?" Malakai asked softly. His voice was absolutely deadly.Griffin did not flinch. He let his entire body shake violently. He widened his milky white eyes in pure, blind terror."Mr. Malakai?" Griffin cried out loudly. He waved his free hand in the air like a desperate man. "Is that you? Thank god you are here. The fire alarm went off upstairs. People were screaming."Malakai narrowed his eyes. He looked at the unconscious, badly burned guard on the floor. Then he looked at the rescued boy."You expect me to believe you wandered down here by accident?" Malakai sneered. He pulled the hammer of the pistol back with his thumb. "You untied the street rat.""I smelled burning meat sir." Griffin panicked perfectly. His voice cracked with genuine-sounding fear. "The pipe exploded. I tripped over the
Chapter 5
The Apex Country Club was massive. It had three floors of luxury lounges, private dining rooms, and indoor pools. But it also had a sprawling underground basement level used for storage and private security holding cells.Griffin knew the layout of the building perfectly.He tapped his white cane on the marble floor and walked slowly past the main reception desk. He headed toward the restricted service elevator at the back of the hallway."Hey." A loud voice called out.A heavy security guard stepped in front of Griffin. The guard placed a thick hand on his chest."You cannot go down this hallway." The guard said firmly. "This elevator is strictly for executive security. Get back to the laundry room.""I apologize." Griffin said quietly. He made his voice sound confused and completely disoriented. "I..Wait a minute. I think I took a wrong turn near the kitchen. Everything sounds different today."He turned around slowly, tapped his cane against the wall, pretending to search for the c
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