Chapter 15 - The Night of the Red Lanterns
The Glass Tower stood in the center of Manhattan,
a gleaming needle of steel and light that looked down on the rest of the city.
It was the physical manifestation of the Council's power—
unreachable,
untouchable,
and cold.
But tonight,
the needle was going to break.
I stood in the back of a delivery van,
checking my equipment for the tenth time.
Beside me,
Chen was sharpening a long,
curved blade,
his face a mask of calm.
"This is madness, you know,"
he said,
not looking up.
"Attacking the tower is a suicide mission."
"Then it’s a good day to die,"
I replied.
We had identified the mole—
a young guard named Rico who had been paid off by Viktor to track our movements.
He was currently bound and gagged in the trunk of a car,
but not before he gave us the security codes for the tower's service elevator.
The plan was simple:
distraction and insertion.
Chen’s men would launch a series of coordinated attacks on the Council’s street-level assets,
drawing away their primary security forces.
Meanwhile,
I would lead a small team directly into the heart of the tower.
"Ten minutes,"
Marco said,
checking his watch.
I looked at the screen of my phone,
seeing a photo of Emma I had taken at the bakery.
She was smiling,
a smudge of flour on her nose.
That was the world I was fighting for.
"Go,"
I said.
The city suddenly erupted into chaos.
Explosions rocked the lower blocks,
and the sound of sirens filled the air.
The guards at the tower’s entrance scrambled to respond,
leaving the service entrance vulnerable.
We moved like shadows,
slipping inside and into the elevator.
The ascent felt like it took hours,
each floor a step closer to the final confrontation.
When the doors opened on the penthouse,
we were met with a wall of gunfire.
The Council was waiting.
The lobby was a blur of marble and blood.
I fired until my rifle was empty,
then switched to my sidearm,
moving with a focused rage that ignored the pain of the bullets grazing my skin.
"Push forward!"
I screamed.
We breached the inner sanctum,
a massive boardroom with a panoramic view of the skyline.
There,
sitting at the head of the table,
was the High Council.
Five men,
the architects of the city’s misery.
And standing behind them,
holding a gun to a hostage’s head,
was Viktor.
But the hostage wasn't a politician or a rival boss.
It was Sarah.
"Drop it, Calder!"
Viktor yelled,
his eyes wild.
"Or she dies right here!"
I froze,
my heart stopping.
"How did you find them?"
I whispered.
Viktor laughed,
a sound of pure malice.
"You thought you were so smart, hiding them in Queens."
"But you forgot one thing, boy."
"I taught you everything you know."
"I didn't need a mole to find your safehouse."
"I just needed to think like a Moretti."
I looked at Sarah,
her eyes filled with tears,
and then I looked at the men at the table.
The war had reached its breaking point.
"Put the gun down, Viktor,"
I said,
my voice trembling.
"This is between us."
"It was always between us,"
he replied.
"Now, choose."
"The ledger, or the girl’s mother?"
I looked at the black book in my hand,
May you like
the weight of a thousand secrets.
And then I looked at the woman who had given me a reason to be a man again.
