Chapter 7 - The Unlikely Alliance
Stella completely froze in the middle of the busy police precinct lobby.
Victor was leaning casually against the wall, his scarred face heavily bandaged from the boiling soup burns.
He did not look angry or vengeful; he looked incredibly desperate and exhausted.
He gestured for Stella to follow him out the side exit into a dark, quiet alleyway.
Stella hesitated, scanning the area for any sign of Jonah's loyal men, but she was entirely alone.
She cautiously stepped outside, keeping a safe distance from the dangerous rival boss.
"Why are you waiting for me, Victor?" Stella demanded, her voice shaking slightly.
Victor lit a cigarette with trembling hands and exhaled a thick cloud of white smoke into the cold air.
"Jonah didn't bail you out of jail, Stella," Victor revealed quietly.
"I used my own political connections to get you released because I desperately need your help."
Stella crossed her arms defensively, glaring at the man who had tried to murder her patient.
"I just permanently disfigured your men; why would you ever trust me?" she asked cynically.
Victor pulled a crumpled, bloody photograph from his leather coat and handed it to her.
It was a picture of a young, terrified girl tied securely to a wooden chair in a dark room.
"That is my sixteen-year-old daughter, Maya," Victor explained, his voice cracking with heavy emotion.
"The people who stole Jonah's ledger also kidnapped my daughter to force me to attack his estate."
Stella stared at the horrifying photograph, the pieces of the puzzle violently snapping together.
Victor wasn't trying to take over Jonah's empire; he was just a desperate father being heavily blackmailed.
"Who took her?" Stella asked, her medical instincts kicking in to help the vulnerable child.
"I don't know their names, but they operate entirely out of the old abandoned shipyard on the east coast," Victor replied.
"Jonah is already on his way there completely alone to get his leverage back."
Stella felt a massive surge of panic wash over her entire body.
Jonah was completely paralyzed and heavily outgunned; he was going to get himself slaughtered in a warehouse.
"We have to go after him right now," Stella insisted, grabbing Victor's arm.
They jumped into Victor's idling car and sped recklessly toward the desolate, foggy shipyard.
They arrived at a massive, rusted shipping warehouse surrounded by high chain-link fences.
Stella quietly approached a side door and peered through a dirty, cracked window.
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Jonah was sitting calmly in his wheelchair in the center of the massive room, completely surrounded by heavily armed mercenaries.
A tall, elegant woman stepped out of the shadows to personally confront the trapped mafia boss.
