Chapter 7: The Midnight Ambush
At two o'clock in the morning, the sound of screeching tires shattered the silence of 4th Street. Two black SUVs with tinted windows pulled up across the curb, blocking the garage driveway. Four men in dark tactical jackets stepped out, carrying heavy crowbars and iron pipes.
Leading them from the passenger seat was Gregory Thorne, his tuxedo jacket discarded, a vicious sneer twisting his features. "Get out here, grease monkey! You took what was mine, and you’re going to pay for it!"
Julian gently pushed Elena toward the back office. "Lock the door. Do not come out, no matter what you hear."
"Julian, no! There are four of them!" Elena gasped, grabbing his wrist. "Call the police!"
"By the time they arrive, they'll burn this shop down," Julian replied, pulling a heavy steel wrench from his workbench with steady hands. "I lost one home to your crowd ten years ago. I'm not losing another."
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Julian stepped through the bay doors into the drizzling rain. Gregory pointed a metal pipe at him. "Give me the grandfather’s ledger and the letter, Ross, and maybe my guys will only break your other arm."
Julian didn't answer with words. When the first enforcer lunged with a crowbar, Julian sidestepped with boxer-like precision, driving the steel wrench into the man's ribs and sweeping his leg out from under him. The man hit the wet asphalt with a sickening crack. Julian stood in the rain, blood dripping from a grazed knuckle, his hazel eyes burning with quiet, lethal resolve.
