Chapter 4 - The Ransom Demand
The live video feed showed Leo tied to a metal chair in a dark, damp room.
Leo’s face was bruised and bloody, but he was still breathing heavily.
Marcus stepped into the frame, wiping a bloody brass knuckle on his expensive tailored suit.
Marcus smiled directly into the camera, knowing perfectly well that both Declan and Sadie were watching.
He mocked Declan for being weak and sentimental, claiming the old ways of the syndicate were completely dead.
Marcus laid out a very simple, deadly ultimatum.
He demanded that Declan sign over the deeds to the downtown shipping ports and completely surrender his territory by midnight.
If Declan refused, Marcus promised to send Leo back to Sadie in a dozen different wooden boxes.
Declan did not negotiate, hesitate, or show a single ounce of fear to his bitter enemy.
He stared directly into the camera and coldly agreed to the massive trade.
Marcus laughed triumphantly, giving Declan the address of a deserted shipyard before cutting the feed.
Sadie looked at Declan in absolute disbelief, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
She asked him if he was truly going to give up his entire criminal empire just to save her foolish brother.
Declan gently wiped a tear from her face, his touch surprisingly tender for a man made of violence.
He told her that an empire meant absolutely nothing if he could not protect the people who actually mattered.
He ordered her to stay locked inside the safehouse while he went to the shipyard alone to handle the exchange.
He gathered a massive arsenal of weapons, strapping tactical holsters over his dark clothes.
Declan walked out the heavy steel door, locking it firmly from the outside.
Sadie sat alone in the quiet room, staring at the pictures of her dead father.
She realized her father had been a fighter, and she was done hiding in the shadows while other people died for her.
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She noticed Declan had accidentally left the keys to his secondary weapons locker sitting on the kitchen counter.
She opened the locker and pulled out a small, fully loaded silver pistol.
