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A hundred and eighty-seven people watched Chicago’s most feared mafia boss roll backward into twelve feet of freezing water—and not one of them screamed. / Chapter 6 / 10

Chapter 6 - The Shadows of Dock 4We scrambled behind a towering bank of whirring mainframe servers that hummed with artificial intelligence data storage. Dust choked our lungs, and the acrid smell of burnt gunpowder hung thick in the damp air.

"Maya... how did you even find me?" Leo wheezed, clutching his bruised ribs as he leaned against the metal casing of a server rack.

"Julian Vescari helped me," I whispered back, keeping my eyes fixed on the dim perimeter where the sweeping beams of flashlights cut through the gloom.

Leo’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief. "You’re working with Vescari? Are you insane? He’s the one who runs the syndicate that’s been funneling cartel money through Dock 4!"

"No, he isn't," I corrected quickly, piecing together the puzzle Julian had hinted at. "Julian didn't know about the cartel funnel. Victoria was running the black-book accounts behind his back using the dockyards as a front. That’s what you discovered, isn't it, Leo? You found the paper trail connecting Victoria’s shell companies to the smuggling ring."

Before Leo could answer, a heavy boot crunched on gravel just around our server rack.

"I know you're in here, little girl," a gruff, gravelly voice echoed through the dark. It was one of Victoria’s enforcers, moving in with calculated, predatory patience. "You can't outrun a bullet in the dark."

My hand brushed against a heavy, heavy-duty industrial fire extinguisher bolted to the side of the server rack. My fingers curled around the metal pin.

Three feet... two feet...

A silhouette stepped around the corner of the rack, the beam of his flashlight sweeping directly toward my face.

I yanked the pin, smashed the heavy metal lever, and unleashed a blinding, pressurized cloud of white chemical powder directly into the enforcer's eyes and throat.

"Aghh! My eyes!" the man choked out, dropping his weapon as he stumbled backward, coughing violently.

I didn't hesitate. I swung the heavy steel cylinder like a baseball bat, catching him squarely across the temple. He collapsed to the floor like a sack of wet cement, unconscious.

"Grab his gun!" I hissed to Leo.

Leo snatched the Glock from the fallen enforcer’s trembling fingers, his hands shaking but his eyes filled with sudden, desperate resolve. "I've got it."

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"Good. Now we find a way out of here."

“Maya,” Julian’s calm, steady voice suddenly returned through the earpiece. The estate’s emergency backup generators had kicked in, restoring power to the security network. “You’ve got company coming down the exterior stairs. Victoria just triggered the estate's red-code lockdown. You need to get to the rooftop access hatch. Now.”

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Chapter 7 - The Rooftop EscapeDragging an exhausted, battered Leo up two flights of narrow steel stairs tested every ounce of adrenaline left in my system. My muscles burned, and my breath came in ragged, painful gasps.
Chapter 8 - The Queen’s GambitThirty minutes later, the storm outside had escalated into a full-blown autumn tempest, lashing rain against the tall, stained-glass windows of Julian’s private study.
Chapter 9 - The Debt PaidThe tension in the drawing room slowly dissipated, leaving behind the heavy, inescapable weight of absolute power reasserted.
Chapter 10 - The Unbroken CrownThree months later, Lake Michigan looked entirely different under the bright, golden warmth of a late autumn sunset.

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