Chapter 2 - Shadows at the Door
The stranger paused just inside the threshold, water dripping from the brim of his fedora onto the worn wooden floorboards. The restaurant was officially closed, yet the deadbolts had not been thrown. Leo’s hand instinctively drifted toward the inside pocket of his black suit jacket, his fingers brushing against the cold steel of a compact firearm.
Clara shifted the sleeping toddler in her arms, taking a cautious step backward into the shadows cast by the flickering neon sign outside.
"You're out of your jurisdiction, Vance," Leo said, his voice dropping into a dangerous register. "This isn't your scene to manage."
Vance didn't answer immediately. He took a slow, deliberate stride forward, his eyes scanning the broken glass on the floor before locking onto the dark tattoos wrapping around Leo’s knuckles. A faint, humorless smile touched the corners of Vance’s mouth.
"Jurisdiction stopped mattering the moment you walked out of the terminal, Leo," Vance replied, his voice a gravelly baritone that echoed in the empty space. "The syndicate isn't going to let you disappear just because you decided to play family man in a diner in the middle of nowhere."
Clara tightened her grip on little Toby, who stirred slightly in his sleep, letting out a soft sigh that sounded entirely too fragile for the violent world colliding around him. She realized then that staying in this room was no longer an option. The men surrounding her were bound by ties much darker than simple debt or disagreement.
"There's a service exit in the kitchen," Clara whispered, keeping her eyes fixed on Vance as she addressed Leo. "Take it, and don't look back."
May you like
Leo hesitated, torn between his instinct to protect his son and his desperate need to confront the ghost standing across from him. But as Vance reached into his coat with agonizing slowness, Leo saw the glint of a silver badge resting right beside a loaded magazine. It wasn't the syndicate. It was the federal marshals. And they had tracked every mile of his flight.
---
