Chapter 3 - The Last Warning
The diner fell silent.
Not quiet.
Silent.
There was a difference.
Quiet was peaceful.
Silence was what happened when everyone in a room knew something terrible was about to happen.
The tall man stopped six feet from Daniel.
“Move.”
Daniel stayed where he was.
“No.”
The tattooed man looked around at the watching customers.
Then back at Daniel.
“You really want to do this in front of all these people?”
Daniel’s voice remained calm.
“You’re the one who walked in here.”
The man’s jaw tightened.
Carol began quietly moving customers toward the rear hallway.
A woman grabbed both of her children and pulled them under a table.
Someone near the counter reached for a phone.
The tall man noticed.
“Nobody calls anybody.”
That was when Daniel knew these men were used to being obeyed.
He’d known men like that before.
They confused fear with respect.
The tattooed man stepped closer.
“Last chance.”
His hand came out of his coat.
Daniel saw metal.
Ethan gasped.
Daniel moved slightly, placing his entire body between the child and the weapon.
The tall man smiled again.
“You’re making a mistake.”
Daniel looked at him.
“No.”
Then his eyes dropped to the tattooed man’s hand.
“You are.”
The man raised the weapon.
A woman screamed.
Daniel’s pulse slowed.
The room sharpened around him.
Distance.
Angles.
Furniture.
Exits.
His old instincts returned so fast it almost frightened him.
Five years trying to bury that part of himself.
Five years telling himself that man was gone.
But that man had never left.
He had only been waiting.
Daniel shifted his weight.
The tattooed man noticed.
“Don’t.”
Daniel glanced at Ethan.
The boy was shaking.
And suddenly Daniel remembered another child.
Another street.
Another night.
Smoke.
Gunfire.
Someone screaming his name.
A promise Daniel had failed to keep.
Not this time.
The tattooed man took one more step.
Daniel reached for the metal chair beside him.
The man’s eyes widened.
Then the entire diner exploded into motion.
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
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