THE PURPLE STARS

“Hello, Sarah,” Marcus said. His voice was smooth, completely unaffected by the guns drawn all around him. He looked down at us on the floor like we were inconvenient luggage he had misplaced.

I peeked out from beneath my mother’s arms. The man had the same dark hair as me, but his eyes were cold and empty. I didn't remember him warmly. I only remembered the shouting. The broken plates in our old house.

My mother was shaking so hard she couldn't speak. She held me tighter, trying to press us both into the floorboards.

Vincent Kane slowly turned to face Marcus. If he was surprised to see a dead man walking, he didn't show it.

“Marcus Carter,” Vincent said, his voice dropping into a deadly, quiet register. “I should have known you were too arrogant to drown.”

Marcus smirked, stepping fully into the restaurant. His two heavily armed guards kept their rifles trained on Vincent’s men. David Sterling pushed his human shield away and scrambled behind Marcus, sweating and panting.

“It was a necessary vacation, Vincent,” Marcus said lightly. “I needed time to set up new supply lines on the East Coast without your family breathing down my neck. Faking my death was just… good business.”

“And David kept your seat warm,” Vincent deduced. “He took my money to fund your new operation.”

“A temporary loan,” Marcus corrected. “I fully intended to pay you back. But then David called me in a panic ten minutes ago. Said you were asking about a watch.”

Marcus held out his hand. David eagerly dropped the heavy black handgun into it.

“My brother’s watch,” Vincent said. “Where is Thomas?”

Marcus’s smile faded. A cruel, sharp edge replaced it. “Thomas got greedy, Vincent. Six years ago, he found out I was skimming from your grandfather’s shipments. He threatened to go to the commission. I couldn't let that happen.”

Vincent’s hands slowly curled into fists at his sides. “You killed him.”

“I handled a problem,” Marcus said coldly. “I took the watch as a souvenir. Gave it to David to hold for safe keeping. Clearly, David is an idiot who doesn't know how to keep things hidden.”

David flinched behind him.

Marcus turned his attention down to my mother.

“Get up, Sarah,” Marcus ordered.

My mother didn't move. She just stared at him with absolute hatred. “You let us think you were dead. You left us with nothing. Rory was a baby.”

“I left you with the restaurant,” Marcus snapped, losing his polished demeanor. “I left you a business to run! But instead of stepping up, you played the victim. You let David run it into the ground, and you put on an apron like a peasant.”

“I put on an apron to feed your daughter!” she screamed back, tears streaming down her face.

“Enough!” Marcus barked. He gestured with his gun. “Get up. Both of you. We’re leaving.”

Vincent stepped laterally, placing himself between Marcus and my mother.

“They aren't going anywhere with you, Marcus,” Vincent said.

Marcus let out a dry laugh. “You’re outgunned, Vincent. I have men at the door, and I have David’s men outside. You’re not in a position to negotiate for my wife.”

“She isn't your wife,” Vincent said softly. “She’s the woman who worked seventy-seven days without pay because you abandoned her. She is under my protection now.”

Marcus raised the gun, pointing it directly at Vincent’s chest.

“I’m taking her, Vincent. She knows where the original ledgers are hidden. The ones with my offshore accounts. She hid them before I left.”

My mother gasped. “I burned them, Marcus! Years ago!”

“I don't believe you,” Marcus sneered. He looked back at Vincent. “Move, Kane. Or I kill you and take her anyway.”

Vincent didn't move an inch. He looked at the armed men by the door. He looked at David. Then, he looked down at me, peeking out from my mother’s grip.

He looked at the purple stars on the piece of paper still lying on the floor.

“You think you have the room, Marcus,” Vincent said, a dark, terrifying smile touching the corners of his mouth. “But you forgot one thing about my family.”

“What’s that?” Marcus mocked.

“We never travel alone,” Vincent said.

Suddenly, a red laser dot appeared directly on the center of Marcus’s forehead.

Then another appeared on the chest of the guard to his left.

And another on the guard to his right.

Through the shattered front windows, parked across the street in a black van that hadn't been there ten minutes ago, were three of Vincent’s syndicate snipers.