Chapter 5 - The Judas Among UsThe War Room in the basement of the brownstone was bathed in the harsh white glare of tactical monitors. Satellite feeds, intercepted phone lines, and blueprint schematics of the abandoned Brooklyn Navy Yard covered the massive steel table.
"It’s a trap," Marco said, slamming his fist onto the map. "Cruz’s second-in-command, Dominic Rossi, is running this play now. They want the docks. They’re using the old man as bait to draw you out of your territory, Boss."
Joseph didn't look at the map. He was cleaning the slide of a customized Sig Sauer P226, his movements mechanical, calm, and terrifyingly precise.
"I know it’s a trap," Joseph said quietly.
"Then we send a strike team," Norma interjected, stepping up to the table. Her voice was no longer that of a frightened teenager; it was laced with the raw, desperate fury of a daughter whose world was being ripped apart. "We don't negotiate. We hit them before they can move my dad."
Joseph looked up, studying her with a mixture of respect and deep caution. "If we go in guns blazing, Rossi will put a bullet through Thomas’s brain before we clear the threshold. This requires a scalpel, not a sledgehammer."
"I’ll go," Norma said.
The room went dead silent. Marco let out a harsh bark of laughter. "Are you out of your mind, kid? This isn't a puppy in the surf. This is a cartel execution site."
"They want the docks, and they want Joseph," Norma argued, her eyes flashing with a dangerous intelligence. "They don't care about a seventeen-year-old girl in a mud-stained coat. If I walk in there offering to trade myself for my father, Rossi will take the bait. He’ll want to gloat."
Joseph stood slowly, towering over her. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. "I will not use you as bait."
"I am not asking for your permission, Mr. Trevino," Norma snapped back, stepping right up to his chest. "That is my father in that video. You owe him his nets? Fine. Consider this me collecting the debt."
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Joseph stared down at her for a long, agonizing moment. Then, a slow, grim smile touched his lips. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small, heavy object, pressing it into her palm. It was a titanium micro-tracker disguised as a silver earring.
"Put it on," Joseph whispered. "If you die, Norma... I burn this entire city to ash."
