Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO CAME ALONE
Adrian Blackwood had never walked into a trap without knowing it was a trap.
That night, he did.
The message had arrived at 2:13 a.m.
A photograph of Elena tied to a chair.
Her face bruised.
Her broken arm secured against her chest.
Beneath the photograph was an address.
An abandoned textile factory outside Brooklyn.
No demands.
No explanation.
Just one sentence.
COME ALONE.
Marcus had read the message twice.
“You're not going.”
Adrian put on his coat.
“I am.”
“That's exactly what they want.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you going?”
Adrian looked at the photograph.
Elena was staring directly at the camera.
She was terrified.
But beneath the fear, he saw something else.
A message.
She was trying to tell him something.
Adrian zoomed in on the image.
Her fingers were curled.
Three fingers extended.
Three.
He stared.
Then understood.
Third floor.
“Get every man we have near the building,” Adrian said.
Marcus shook his head.
“You said alone.”
“I said I would go alone.”
Marcus stared at him.
“That's not the same thing.”
“No.”
Adrian walked toward the door.
“Stay close.”
The abandoned factory stood beneath a sky without stars.
Adrian entered through the main door.
His footsteps echoed across the empty floor.
“Caleb.”
No answer.
He continued forward.
The building smelled of dust, rust, and old machinery.
A light flickered above him.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“You came.”
Adrian stopped.
Richard Hale stepped into the light.
Adrian's expression became deadly.
“Where is Elena?”
“Always direct.”
“Where is she?”
Richard smiled.
“Still the same.”
“You were there the night my father died.”
The smile vanished.
For a moment, neither man moved.
Then Richard said:
“Your father was a difficult man.”
“You killed him.”
“No.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Then who did?”
Richard said nothing.
A sound came from above.
Adrian looked up.
The third floor.
Elena.
“Bring her down.”
Richard shook his head.
“First, you need to understand something.”
“I don't need to understand anything.”
“You do.”
Richard stepped closer.
“Your father didn't die because Caleb wanted the company.”
Adrian's face remained cold.
“He died because he was going to expose someone.”
“Who?”
Richard smiled.
“Someone closer to you than you think.”
Adrian's hand moved subtly toward the weapon beneath his coat.
Richard noticed.
“Don't.”
Adrian stopped.
A red laser appeared on his chest.
Snipers.
Several of them.
Richard continued.
“Your father discovered that someone inside the family had been selling information.”
“Caleb?”
“No.”
Adrian's eyes hardened.
“Then who?”
A slow clap echoed through the factory.
Adrian turned.
Caleb appeared on the upper balcony.
Elena stood beside him.
Her face was pale.
Her arm was bound.
Caleb held a gun against her head.
Adrian looked at Elena.
She shook her head.
Don't.
Adrian's eyes moved to her fingers.
Three fingers.
Then she moved her thumb twice.
A signal.
Third floor.
Two men.
Adrian understood.
He looked back at Caleb.
“You're making a mistake.”
Caleb laughed.
“No, brother.”
He pressed the gun harder against Elena's head.
“For the first time in my life, I'm finally correcting one.”
Adrian's voice became quiet.
“What do you want?”
Caleb smiled.
“Everything.”
“The company?”
“The money?”
“The empire?”
Caleb's smile widened.
“No.”
He looked at Richard.
Then back at Adrian.
“I want what Father promised me.”
Adrian stared.
“What did he promise you?”
Caleb's expression turned bitter.
“Everything.”
Then Elena suddenly screamed.
Adrian moved.
The factory exploded into gunfire.
He dove behind a concrete pillar.
Bullets tore through the air.
The lights shattered.
Darkness swallowed the building.
Adrian heard Elena cry out.
Then Caleb shout.
A body hit the metal floor.
Adrian fired toward the balcony.
A man screamed.
He climbed the stairs two at a time.
When he reached the third floor, Elena was alone.
Caleb was gone.
Richard was gone.
And Elena was kneeling beside a dead guard.
Adrian rushed toward her.
“Are you hurt?”
She looked up.
“No.”
“Where is Caleb?”
“I don't know.”
Adrian pulled her to her feet.
Then she grabbed his coat.
Her face was white.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“I know who betrayed your father.”
He stared at her.
“Who?”
Elena looked behind him.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“It wasn't Caleb.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Then who?”
Elena swallowed.
“Your mother.”
A silence fell between them.
Then, somewhere in the darkness below, a phone began to ring.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Adrian looked at Elena.
The phone continued ringing.
May you like
And then a woman's voice came through the speaker.
“Hello, son.”
