PART 3 — “YOU FIXED THE WRONG WOMAN’S CAR”

The garage became silent in a way that felt unnatural.

Lamont Woods didn’t raise his voice.

He didn’t need to.

“You are breathing my air,” he said calmly to Mickey. “And threatening a man under my protection.”

That was all it took.

Mickey dropped the wrench instantly.

Fear replaced arrogance in seconds.

He left.

No fight.

No resistance.

Just survival instinct.

Caspian stood slowly, bruised and confused, watching the most dangerous man he had ever seen turn toward him.

“You are Caspian Fischer.”

“Yes.”

“You fixed my daughter’s vehicle last night.”

Caspian frowned. “I fixed a broken car.”

That answer made Lamont pause.

Because it wasn’t ignorance.

It was honesty.

Bianca stepped out from behind her father.

Alive.

Watching him.

Something softer in her eyes now.

“You gave her your last working parts,” Lamont continued. “You didn’t exploit her. You didn’t sell her out. You didn’t run.”

Then came the envelope.

It hit the desk with weight.

Deed to the shop.

Money.

Opportunity.

And ownership disguised as gratitude.

“You work for me now.”

Caspian felt it immediately.

Not rescue.

Not reward.

A transfer of control.

He looked at Bianca.

She didn’t look away.

And in that silence, he understood:

This wasn’t a choice.

It was initiation.

Six months changed everything.

The broken garage no longer existed.

In its place stood a fortress of steel, glass, and silence.

Armored doors. Precision tools. High-end machines used to repair things that normal mechanics were never supposed to see.

Bullet-riddled cars.

Armored limousines.

Vehicles with secrets hidden inside their walls.

Caspian no longer asked questions.

That was rule number one.

And Bianca…

She never stopped coming back.

Sometimes she arrived with cars that had seen violence.

Sometimes she arrived just to watch him work.

And sometimes… she didn’t say anything at all.

One night, she stayed longer than usual.

“You could leave this,” she said softly.

Caspian didn’t look up. “Leave what?”

“This life.”

He laughed quietly. “There’s no ‘before’ anymore.”

Silence followed.

Then she stepped closer.

“You’re not just a mechanic anymore, Caspian.”

That sentence hung in the air.

Like a warning.

Like a truth neither of them wanted to fully understand.

Before anything else could be said—

A secure phone rang.

A new assignment.

A Bentley Mulsanne.

Owned by Lamont Woods.

Urgent inspection.

No witnesses allowed.

Caspian answered.

“Bring it in.”

The Bentley arrived at midnight.

Clean. Expensive. Perfect.

Which immediately told Caspian something was wrong.

Because nothing in Lamont Woods’ world was ever perfect.

He lifted the car.

Checked the systems.

Nothing mechanical.

Then he checked deeper.

Electrical anomaly.

Hidden power drain.

Then he saw it.

Behind the steering column.

Military-grade explosive.

C4.

Wired directly into the steering system.

Trigger mechanism tied to movement.

If the wheel turned at the wrong angle…

The car would turn into a coffin.

Caspian went cold.

This wasn’t sabotage.

This was assassination.

And the only people who had access…

were inside Lamont’s circle.

He reached for his phone.

Called Bianca.

“Don’t let your father near that car.”

But before he could explain—

The garage door exploded open.

Arthur Costello stepped in.

Gun raised.

Smiling.

“You looked too deep, mechanic.”

And Caspian realized something terrifying:

The war hadn’t started when Bianca arrived.

It had started the moment he fixed her car.