Chapter 5 - THE SHADOWS OF THE PAST
The peace of the La Jolla estate was an illusion, and Adrian Cross knew it better than anyone. One did not become the Wolf of the West Coast without leaving a trail of blood and broken men in one’s wake.
In a dingy, smoke-filled warehouse near the Port of San Diego, three men sat around a metal table covered in maps, surveillance photos, and schematics of the Cross mansion.
The man at the head of the table was Viktor Reyes. He was a ruthless, cold-blooded operator who had spent the last five years in a federal prison in Arizona—a prison sentence that had been personally orchestrated by Adrian Cross when Viktor tried to move his cartel’s shipments through Adrian’s docks.
Viktor had been released two weeks ago. And he had only one goal.
"He’s got new people in the house," Viktor said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp as he pointed to a surveillance photo of Emma Dawson leaving the estate’s grocery car. "A woman. A cleaner. And her two kids."
"Why does he care about a cleaner?" asked one of his associates, a heavily tattooed man with a scar across his throat.
"I don't care why he cares," Viktor sneered, his eyes fixing on a photo of Lily playing in the guest house courtyard. "I care that they are in his east wing. The security there is lighter than the main house. The guards only patrol the perimeter wall every twenty minutes."
He leaned forward, his fingers tapping the photo of Lily’s face. "The Wolf has been hiding in his cave for eight years. He thinks he’s safe because he’s in a wheelchair. But he’s got a soft spot now. I can smell it."
"You want us to take the woman?"
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"No," Viktor said, a cruel, yellow-toothed smile spreading across his face. "The boy is too old, he’ll make a fuss. Take the girl. We take the girl, and we tell Adrian that if he wants her back, he hands over the shipping manifests for the Port of San Diego. All of them. The keys to his kingdom."
He stood up, his massive frame casting a long, dark shadow over the table. "We do it tonight. Before the Wolf realizes he’s being hunted."
