Chapter 6 - The Confrontation in the AlleyHannah instinctively stepped in front of me, her body shaking but her jaw set in fierce defiance. “Leave him alone, Marcus! Whatever you think he heard, he’s just a warehouse worker—!”
“Step aside, Ms. Cole,” Marcus interrupted smoothly, his eyes cold. “Unless you want your name added to the permanent termination list along with your pension forfeiture.”
I gently placed a hand on Hannah’s shoulder, pulling her safely behind me. I stepped forward into the pale daylight, looking straight into the eyes of the man I had trusted as a brother for fifteen years.
“You’re sweating, Marcus,” I noted quietly. “For a COO about to finalize an $83 million corporate takeover, you look remarkably terrified.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes, studying my posture, my voice, and the way I stood without flinching under his security detail’s intimidating gaze. A flicker of deep-seated unease crossed his face.
“Who the hell are you?” Marcus demanded, his voice sharpening. “An ordinary warehouse temp doesn't look at me like that.”
“An ordinary warehouse temp doesn't have master root access to the legacy mainframe servers either,” I replied, pulling my phone from my pocket and holding it up.
Brent Voss lunged forward with a snarl, reaching for my arm. “Give me that phone, you little rat—!”
With a swift, controlled motion born of years of defensive training, I sidestepped Brent’s clumsy grab, caught his momentum, and swept his legs out from under him. Brent hit the concrete hard with a breathless crash, knocking the wind completely out of his lungs.
The two private security guards froze, hands hovering near their holsters, unsure how to react.
Marcus stepped back, his face turning pale. “Hold on! Don’t touch him—wait... your voice...”
May you like
I slowly reached up, peeled off the gray contact lenses from my eyes, wiped away the artificial stubble along my jaw, and stood at my full height, staring down at my former best friend with absolute, freezing authority.
“Hello, Marcus,” I said softly. “Looking for Jackson?”
