Chapter 5 - Shadows at the Waterfront
The rain came down in sheets the next evening, turning the cobblestone streets of Port Alder into slick mirrors reflecting the neon lights of the harbor. I sat in the small, sterile visitor's room of Sunset Care Center, watching my mother sleep through the transparent plastic oxygen mask. The $40,000 hospital balance had miraculously vanished from the online billing portal that morning—paid in full by an anonymous wire transfer routed through a shell company linked to Costello Holdings.
I hadn't touched the money. At least, I hadn't wanted to, but the hospital administrators had already confirmed the treatment was locked in for the next three months. My mother’s chest rose and fell in a steady, rhythmic pattern. She was safe for now.
But I wasn't.
As I stepped out into the rainy night, pulling my cheap raincoat tight against the wind, a black sedan slid silently alongside the curb. The rear window rolled down to reveal Marco’s cold, mocking smile.
“Get in, Eliza,” Marco said.
“I’m taking the bus.”
“The boss isn't here to protect you tonight,” Marco said, his voice dropping an octave as one of the goons in the front seat flashed the dull gleam of a silver pistol grip resting on the center console. “And Marco doesn't like being humiliated in front of his associates. Get in the car before I make it mandatory.”
Realizing running was useless, I opened the door and slid into the leather interior. The car accelerated immediately, cutting through the dark labyrinth of warehouses near the old municipal docks—the very docks where my father had died twenty years ago.
Ten minutes later, the sedan stopped inside a cavernous, abandoned shipping hangar smelling of rust and salt water. Overhead, industrial cranes loomed like skeletal giants against the stormy sky.
Marco shoved the car door open and yanked me out by the arm, pushing me toward a wooden crate near the center of the concrete floor.
“You think because Adriano looked twice at you, you’re untouchable?” Marco snarled, his face twisted in ugly malice. “You’re nothing. A stray cat he found carrying champagne trays. But you’re poking your nose into things that could sink this entire organization.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, gritting my teeth against the pain in my wrist.
“Don’t play stupid with me. Adriano’s been transferring major shipping assets into a dormant trust account under the name Brennan all morning. You’re manipulating him, and I’m going to make sure he realizes you’re a liability before you hand our empire over to a dead man’s daughter.”
Before Marco could draw his weapon, a deafening roar echoed across the hollow expanse of the hangar.
High beams cut through the gloom like twin searchlights. A black SUV smashed through the rotting wooden side-gates of the warehouse, spraying splinters of wood across the concrete. The vehicle drifted to a screeching halt just ten feet from where Marco stood.
May you like
The driver’s side door flew open.
Adriano Costello stepped out into the rain, his coat billowing behind him, his expression darker and more terrifying than anything I had ever witnessed in my life.
