CHAPTER 1 — The Coffee That Changed Everything
"Drink this. Trust me."
Those four words saved the most dangerous man in Chicago.
Evelyn Pierce had no idea that the quiet customer she'd served every Tuesday night wasn't a businessman.
He was the man every criminal in the Midwest feared.
Jack Carson.
The future head of the Carson Syndicate.
And someone had just tried to poison him.
Police sirens surrounded Moonlight Café within seconds.
Officers stormed inside.
The three assassins were forced onto the floor at gunpoint while Jack calmly wiped coffee from his sleeve as if nothing unusual had happened.
Evelyn stood frozen behind the counter.
Her hands were shaking so badly she dropped an entire stack of coffee cups.
One detective approached Jack respectfully.
"Mr. Carson... are you alright?"
The entire café became silent.
Every officer knew him.
Every officer treated him with a strange mixture of respect and caution.
Evelyn suddenly realized...
This wasn't simply a wealthy customer.
This was someone powerful enough that even the police spoke carefully around him.
Jack looked toward her.
"You saved my life."
She swallowed.
"I only did what anyone should."
He smiled slightly.
"No."
"You did what almost nobody dares to do."
The detective interrupted.
"We searched the suspects."
One officer placed several evidence bags onto the counter.
Inside were fake passports...
Encrypted phones...
Silencers...
And a small glass vial containing an almost invisible clear liquid.
The forensic officer whispered,
"Enough poison to stop a man's heart in under two minutes."
Evelyn's knees nearly gave out.
She hadn't imagined it.
Someone truly intended to murder Jack in front of dozens of witnesses.
Before anyone could speak again...
One of the arrested gunmen suddenly laughed.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"You still don't get it..."
Jack's expression darkened.
The assassin smiled wider.
"We were never supposed to succeed."
Silence.
"The real killers are already inside your family."
Then...
He bit down.
Crunch.
Foam appeared around his lips.
Within seconds...
He was dead.
The cyanide capsule hidden inside one of his teeth had erased the only witness.
Every officer stared in horror.
Jack never moved.
But Evelyn noticed something chilling.
For the first time...
The Mafia Boss looked afraid.
Not of death.
But of betrayal.
Outside...
Black SUVs arrived one after another.
More than twenty armed men stepped out.
Every one of them lowered their heads respectfully.
"Boss."
Evelyn stared.
Jack Carson wasn't simply important.
He was their king.
He turned toward her.
"You can't go home tonight."
She blinked.
"What?"
"The people who ordered my death saw your face."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"From this moment..."
May you like
"They'll hunt you too."
Evelyn felt the world collapse beneath her feet.
