Chapter 5 - The Subway Shadow
The platform at the 14th Street subway station was damp and crowded when Clara finished her second shift of the day at a commercial laundry facility. Her muscles ached, her hands throbbing beneath the cheap cotton gloves she wore to hide her scars.
As the train screeched to a halt, she moved toward the doors, but a sudden shift in the crowd made her skin prickle with an old, familiar terror.
Two men in heavy leather jackets were tracking her. One of them had a jagged scar across his chin—a known enforcer for the Moretti family.
Clara panicked, stepping quickly onto the train, but the two men followed her into the car, positioning themselves near the exits. The train pulled out of the station, the rhythmic clanking of the tracks sounding like a countdown in her ears.
"Clara," the scarred man said, stepping closer and leaning against the metal pole. "You're a hard girl to find. You missed your monthly payment to the 'recovery fund' for your father's estate."
"I don't have any money," Clara whispered, backing up against the subway doors. "I work for minimum wage. Please, leave me alone."
"The boss doesn't care about minimum wage," the man sneered, reaching into his jacket. "He wants you out of New York. Permanently. Your father's old files are supposed to be gone, but we hear rumors you still have a copy."
Before he could pull his hand from his pocket, the subway lights suddenly flickered and died as the train entered a dark tunnel section.
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A sharp, sickening crack echoed through the dark car, followed by a loud, guttural scream of agony. The lights flashed back on a second later.
The scarred man was on the floor of the subway car, his arm bent backward at a grotesque, impossible angle. Standing over him, holding a heavy, silver-handled cane, was Leo Castellano.
