Chapter 6 - The Setup
The penthouse was a war zone of shattered glass and broken furniture.
Eleanor was frantically dialing 911, her fingers covered in her own blood.
Arthur stepped forward and slapped the phone out of her hand.
"Are you insane?" Arthur hissed.
"If the police investigate Marcus, they investigate my finances."
"They'll find the million dollars I paid him sixteen years ago."
Eleanor stared at her husband as if he were a demon from hell.
"Our son is going to die!"
"He is not my son!" Arthur roared back.
Leo slowly stood up, clutching his bruised ribs.
He spat a glob of blood onto Arthur's expensive rug.
"You're a coward."
Arthur raised his hand to strike the boy, but Leo caught his wrist in mid-air.
The homeless boy's grip was like iron, forged by years of street fights and survival.
"You touch me, and I'll break your arm," Leo said with deadly calm.
He let go of Arthur and turned to his weeping mother.
"I know where Marcus hides."
Eleanor looked up, a glimmer of desperate hope in her eyes.
"Where?"
Leo walked to the shattered window and looked down at the dark, sprawling grid of Manhattan.
"He operates out of the abandoned subway tunnels beneath the old financial district."
"It's a maze down there, and the cops won't go in."
Arthur scoffed, pouring himself another drink with shaky hands.
"Then Julian is already dead."
"I am not transferring my company to that thug."
Eleanor stood up, her posture straightening as a fierce maternal fire ignited in her chest.
"I am going with you, Leo."
Leo looked at her designer dress and high heels, shaking his head.
"You won't survive ten minutes in the underground."
"I am his mother," Eleanor said firmly, kicking off her expensive heels.
"Lead the way."
As they snuck out through the service elevator, Leo checked his pockets for his old switchblade.
He didn't notice Arthur picking up a burner phone from his desk.
May you like
"Marcus?" Arthur whispered into the phone.
"They're coming down to the tunnels, just like we planned."
