Chapter 4: Into the Lion’s Den
Elias was dragged, bloodied and bound with heavy zip-ties, into the lavish penthouse of the Iron Syndicate. The room was a sickening display of wealth bought with blood. Marcus sat on a leather sofa, sipping expensive bourbon, while Victor stood by the door, looking smug.
Sarah was tied to a chair in the corner, sobbing quietly.
"Elias Vance," Marcus said, reading from a sleek tablet. "Ex-military. Dishonorably discharged... no, wait. Your file just ends. It’s completely redacted. You’re a ghost." Marcus leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with malicious greed. "A guy with your skillset could make me a lot of money. Work for me, and I let the girl go. Refuse, and Victor gets to finish what he started in that parking lot."
Elias looked at Sarah. Her eyes pleaded with him not to give in. He looked back at Marcus.
"I don't work for thugs," Elias said coldly.
Marcus sighed. "Shame. Victor, kill the girl."
Victor grinned and took a step toward Sarah. That was the mistake Elias had been waiting for.
In a fraction of a second, Elias manipulated a hidden razor blade he kept concealed under the skin-like adhesive of his watch strap. He sliced through the thick zip-ties behind his back.
As Victor raised his gun, Elias exploded into motion. He grabbed the heavy glass whiskey decanter from the table and hurled it directly into Marcus’s face, shattering it. Before the shards even hit the ground, Elias launched himself at Victor.
Victor was huge, but Elias was a weapon. Elias dodged Victor's wild gunshot, stepped inside the giant's guard, and delivered a devastating sequence of strikes to Victor's throat, knee, and solar plexus. The giant gasped, his eyes rolling back, and crashed to the floor like a felled oak tree.
Marcus, bleeding and screaming, scrambled for a gun on his desk. Elias didn't even look. He scooped up Victor’s dropped revolver, spun, and fired a single shot. The bullet shattered the heavy chandelier above Marcus. It came crashing down, pinning the crime lord to the floor under hundreds of pounds of crystal and steel.
The penthouse descended into sudden, dead silence, broken only by Marcus’s pathetic groans.
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Elias dropped the gun. He walked over to Sarah, untied her quickly, and pulled her into a fierce, desperate embrace.
"It's over," he whispered into her hair. "It's finally over."
