Chapter 6 - THE CAFE MANAGER
I stared at the crumpled receipt from Laurel Corner Café, my mind spinning violently.
"Why would Navarro use a receipt from my old job?" I breathed, picking up the paper with shaking hands.
Julian snatched it from me. His eyes scanned the messy handwriting on the back.
Bring the ledger to the old slaughterhouse on Highway 9. Come alone. Or the old woman and the mute girl burn.
"It wasn't Navarro who took them," Julian said, his voice deadly quiet. He looked up at me, realization dawning. "Navarro's men were at the railyard with Victor. This is a separate hit. Someone else used the chaos to slip in."
"But who?" I asked desperately. "And why the café receipt?"
"Who managed that café, Emily?"
I blinked. "Mr. Henderson. But he's just a guy who yells about table turnover. He’s nobody."
"In my world, nobody is nobody," Julian growled. He pulled out his phone, making a rapid call to his intelligence team. "Run a deep background check on a Marcus Henderson in San Antonio. I want aliases, bank records, and known associates. Now."
While he waited, I knelt down and gathered the broken pieces of Lily’s music box. My chest felt hollow. I had only known that little girl for a few days, but the thought of her terrified, sitting in the dark with men who wanted to hurt her, made a fierce, protective rage rise in my throat.
"Julian," I said firmly, standing up. "I'm coming with you."
"No. This isn't a game, Emily. They will kill you."
"They took them because of me!" I shouted, tears finally spilling over. "Henderson targeted me because I worked there. He watched me. I can get inside. He still thinks of me as his dumb, desperate waitress. Let me use that."
Julian’s phone buzzed. He read the screen, his face hardening into granite.
"You're right," Julian said softly. "Henderson isn't a café manager. His real name is Thomas Vargas. He’s a former fixer for our uncle, Silas."
"Your uncle? I thought Victor betrayed you."
"Victor wanted money and territory. Silas wants the throne," Julian explained rapidly, loading fresh magazines into his tactical vest. "Silas has always hated that my father left the syndicate to me. He used Victor’s distraction with Navarro to take my mother and daughter."
"Then we give him the ledger," I said, holding up the leather book.
Julian looked at me, a profound sadness in his eyes. "If I give Silas the ledger, he will use the blackmail inside to secure his power. Then he will kill my mother, my daughter, and me. We leave no loose ends."
"So what do we do?"
Julian pulled a small, heavy silver revolver from his desk drawer. He handed it to me.
"We lie," he said.
An hour later, we pulled up to the abandoned slaughterhouse on Highway 9. The stench of rust and old rot hung heavy in the humid Texas air.
"I'm going to walk through the front doors," Julian instructed, checking his weapons one last time. "You circle around to the loading docks in the back. Henderson will be watching me. Find my mother and Lily. Get them out. If anyone tries to stop you..." He looked at the revolver in my hands.
"I pull the trigger," I finished, my voice surprisingly steady.
Julian reached out, his calloused hand gently touching my cheek. It was a fleeting, shockingly tender gesture in the middle of a nightmare. "Be careful, Emily."
I slipped out of the car, melting into the shadows. The rain masked the sound of my footsteps as I crept toward the back of the massive, decaying brick building.
I found a rusted service door slightly ajar. Slipping inside, the smell of mildew hit me. The building was vast, filled with rusted meat hooks hanging from overhead rails.
Voices echoed from the center of the warehouse.
I crept along the catwalk, peering down through the metal grating.
Below, Julian stood entirely alone in the center of the floor, his hands empty, the ledger tucked under his arm.
Surrounding him were ten armed men. Sitting in a chair behind them, looking smug, was Henderson—the cafe manager. Beside him, tied to a concrete pillar, was Eleanor. And clutching Eleanor's leg, crying silently, was Lily.
"Julian, my boy!" A new voice boomed. From the shadows emerged an older man with silver hair and an expensive cane. Silas.
"Let them go, Silas," Julian said calmly. "You have what you want."
"I do," Silas smiled cruelly. "But I'm afraid I can't leave witnesses. Thomas, kill the old woman first. Let Julian watch."
Henderson raised his pistol, aiming it directly at Eleanor's head.
May you like
I didn't think. I didn't hesitate. I aimed the heavy silver revolver down through the grating, directly at the man who had yelled at me for being late to shift just a week ago.
And I pulled the trigger.
