The speedboat cut through the dark waters like a blade, leaving behind the burning docks and the bloodshed. The salty wind whipped against Carrick’s face, but he barely felt it. His mind was still back there, on Domino, on the battle, on the war that had just begun.Lila groaned beside him, her face pale, sweat slicking her forehead. Her injured leg was wrapped in a torn piece of Jack’s shirt, but the bleeding hadn’t fully stopped."Stay with me, Lila," Carrick said, squeezing her hand.She smirked weakly. "Not dying today, boss. Still got too many people to shoot."Maximus, sitting at the front of the boat, watched the horizon, his eyes sharp. "We need to get her to a medic. Fast."Victor nodded from the driver’s seat. "I’ve got a guy. Discreet. Won’t ask questions."Carrick glanced at him. "Appreciate it, Victor."Victor smirked. "You can pay me back by making sure Domino dies screaming."Carrick’s grip on the boat’s railing tightened. "Oh, I intend to."Jack, who had been silent up

The air inside the SUV was thick with tension. Jack’s voice had gone silent on the radio, but his last words echoed in Carrick’s mind.Samael was in town.Carrick clenched his jaw. He had expected his father to escalate, but hiring the most feared assassin in the underworld? That was a different kind of problem.Maximus was the first to break the silence. His voice was unusually serious. “If Samael is really here, you’ve got a ticking clock on your head.”Victor sighed, flipping through the files in his lap. “This is bad, kid. Really bad.”Carrick exhaled slowly, his fingers tapping rhythmically against his knee. “Tell me everything you know about him.”Victor shut the file and leaned forward. “Samael isn’t just an assassin, he’s a specter. No one knows his real name. No one’s seen his face. The only proof of his existence is the bodies he leaves behind.”Maximus nodded. “I worked a contract in Berlin a few years back. A cartel hired Samael to take out an entire government task force

The pocket watch gleaned under the flickering street lamp, its rhythmic ticking filling the silence like a slow, deliberate countdown. Carrick narrowed his eyes, his grip tightening on the curtain as he watched the mysterious figure outside."Who the hell is that?" Victor’s voice was tense through the earpiece.Carrick exhaled. "Not sure. But he’s not just some random thug."Maximus grinned from where he sat on the couch, casually sharpening a knife. "You don’t say? The whole ‘ominous pocket watch in the dark’ thing didn’t give it away?"Carrick ignored him, studying the figure carefully. The man didn’t move—l, just stood there, flipping the watch open and closed, as if waiting for something.Jack’s voice crackled in. "Boss, I’ve run facial recognition through every database I could tap into. No match.""That’s impossible," Victor muttered. "If someone’s connected to a five-million-dollar bounty, they should have some kind of record."Jack sighed. "I don’t like it either, but this guy

Midnight was a cruel mistress. It whispered secrets in the dark, concealed movements behind shadows, and turned even the bravest men into prey. But Carrick Gale had never feared the dark.He thrived in it.Warehouse 12 stood at the edge of an abandoned industrial district, its skeletal remains barely holding against the howling wind. Rusted shipping containers were scattered across the yard, silent sentinels to past dealings.Maximus crouched beside Carrick behind a stack of barrels, peering through binoculars. “Two snipers on the roof. Four guards at the entrance. Two more patrolling."Victor’s voice crackled through the earpiece. “And that’s just what we can see. There’s no way Samael meets anyone without extra precautions."Carrick smirked. “That’s why we aren’t walking in the front door."Maximus grinned. “What’s the play?"Carrick nodded toward the northeast side. “There’s an old access tunnel under the warehouse. Jack sent me the blueprints, it leads straight into the storage ro

The Gale estate stood like a fortress on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by high walls, security checkpoints, and a network of guards patrolling its perimeter. The family’s influence stretched deep into politics, business, and the criminal underworld. Inside the grand estate, in a dimly lit study filled with antique furniture and the scent of cigar smoke, Domino Gale sat across from his father, Zachary Gale.The room was silent except for the occasional crackling of the fireplace. A glass of whiskey rested untouched in front of Domino, while Zachary leaned back in his leather chair, fingers tapping rhythmically against the desk. A cold, calculating gleam flickered in his eyes as he reviewed the latest reports.A manila folder lay open between them, filled with surveillance images and documents detailing Carrick’s recent movements. The latest entry included a grainy image of Maximus Perch shaking hands with Carrick at the Helios Hotel.Zachary exhaled slowly, his expression unrea