Chapter 6 - Into the Lion’s DenThe Brooklyn Navy Yard at 3:00 AM smelled of stagnant bilge water, rust, and impending doom.
Norma walked alone down the center aisle of Dry Dock No. 4, her sneakers crunching against shattered glass and gravel. The towering steel skeleton of an unbuilt container ship loomed above like the ribs of a prehistoric leviathan. Thick fog rolled in off the East River, swallowing the moonlight.
"Stop right there, little mermaid!"
The voice echoed off the concrete walls. From the shadows beneath a rusted crane stepped Dominic Rossi, flanked by four thugs holding automatic shotguns. In the center, tied securely to a wooden chair with thick zip-ties, sat Thomas Smith. His face was bruised, his lips split, but his eyes widened in sheer horror when he saw his daughter walking out of the fog.
"Norma?!" Thomas screamed, straining against his bonds. "Are you insane? What are you doing here?!"
"I’m here to bring you home, Dad," Norma said, her voice echoing in the cavernous space. She kept her hands visible, open at her sides, though her right hand hovered millimeters away from the titanium earring tucked behind her earlobe.
Rossi laughed, a wet, unpleasant sound, as he stepped up to Thomas and pressed the barrel of his pistol against the old man's temple. "Well, well, well. Look what the tide dragged in. The Ice King’s new pet project. Tell me, sweetheart—did Trevino kiss you goodbye before he sent you to your funeral?"
"Joseph is coming, Rossi," Norma lied smoothly, taking another step forward. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird, but her face remained a mask of stone. "And when he gets here, he won't leave enough of you to bury."
"Let him come!" Rossi snarled, his eyes wild with adrenaline and paranoia. "I’ve got the detonator wired to the support beams of this entire dry dock! We all go up together—"
CLANG.
From the catwalk forty feet above, a single, heavy metal bolt hit the concrete floor.
Rossi’s head snapped upward. "What was—"
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Before he could finish his sentence, the overhead lights shattered in a shower of sparks. Total darkness enveloped the dry dock.
And then, the nightmare began.
