Chapter 5 - The Fall of the House of Sterling
The approach to the Sterling mansion was silent. My years of tactical training made the manicured lawns and trimmed hedges easy to navigate. I moved from shadow to shadow, a ghost in the dark, my eyes adjusted to the gloom.
I reached the back patio. The sliding glass doors were locked, but a single blow from the butt of my weapon shattered the glass with a sharp, explosive crack.
"Who’s there?!" Richard’s voice echoed from the darkness of the living room. It was high-pitched, laced with a panic he had never known in his privileged life.
I stepped through the shattered frame, my boots crunching on the glass. The air inside smelled of smoke from the fireplace and the sharp, sour tang of sweat and fear.
"Arthur?" Evelyn’s voice came from the stairs. "Is that you? You old fool, you’re trespassing! I’m calling the police!"
"Go ahead, Evelyn," I said, my voice calm, dropping into the dark room like lead. "Call Chief Miller. Ask him how the state troopers are treating him on Interstate 20."
A heavy silence followed.
I pulled out a small tactical flashlight, clicking it on. The beam pierced the darkness, illuminating Richard. He was standing near the bar, a heavy crystal decanter in his hand, holding it like a weapon. His face was pale, his eyes wide and bloodshot.
"What did you do?" Richard hissed, squinting against the light. "What did you do to my money? Why are the banks frozen? Who the hell are you?"
"I’m the man who trusted you with his daughter," I said, keeping the light pinned directly on his eyes to blind him. "And I’m the man who is going to show you what happens when you break that trust."
"You think you can threaten me?!" Richard screamed, his arrogance flaring up like a dying ember. "I’ll have you locked away forever! I own this town!"
"You owned this town yesterday, Richard," I said, stepping closer. "Tonight, you own nothing. Your assets are frozen under federal seizure warrants. Your business is being dismantled as we speak. Your mother’s little bonfire upstairs? We’ve recorded every second of it. It’s called destruction of evidence, and it’s a felony."
Evelyn let out a sharp, horrified gasp from the top of the stairs.
"You're lying!" Richard lunged forward, swinging the crystal decanter at my head.
To a trained operative, his movement was in slow motion. I stepped inside his guard, my left hand snapping out to redirect his wrist. With my right hand, I delivered a short, brutal palm strike to his nose.
The bone cracked. Richard groaned, dropping the decanter, which shattered on the floor. He fell to his knees, clutching his face as blood poured between his fingers, staining the same white rug where my daughter had lain bleeding hours before.
"That was for Lily," I whispered, standing over him.
"Arthur, please!" Evelyn cried out, descending the stairs, her expensive jewelry clinking. "We can settle this! We can pay you! How much do you want?!"
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I turned the flashlight on her. She recoiled, raising a hand to block her face.
"You sat there and watched him hit her," I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous, freezing whisper. "You told me to go back to my lonely house while my daughter lay bleeding on your floor. You are just as guilty, Evelyn. And there isn't enough money in the world to buy your way out of this."
