Chapter 4: The Warehouse of Sins
Marin Elwood sat bound to the unforgiving metal chair, her head hanging forward so heavily that her dark, matted hair completely obscured her face. Thick plastic zip-ties cut violently into her bruised wrists, securing her arms behind her back.
“Mom!” Arlo screamed, his voice breaking into a sob as he sprinted past Marius.
Marin didn’t look up at the sound of the approaching footsteps. She remained agonizingly motionless, and for one terrifying, heart-stopping second, Arlo thought he was too late. Then, he saw the shallow, erratic rise and fall of her chest.
The concrete floor beneath her chair was stained with dark puddles from a bucket tipped on its side. It was clear evidence of psychological interrogation techniques meant to break a mind before breaking the body.
“Baby?” Marin choked out, her voice emerging fractured and raw, as if she were trying to speak around a mouthful of broken glass. She struggled weakly against the restraints, lifting her head to reveal a thin trail of dried blood beneath her nose. “Arlo… what are you doing here? Run!”
Marius’s jaw tightened so hard a muscle ticked violently in his cheek. His anger didn’t manifest in a scream or a show of bravado. It manifested in a terrifying, absolute stillness that promised an impending bloodbath.
“Cut her loose,” Marius commanded, not looking at the two guards who had scurried in behind him.
“Sir, Garrett explicitly ordered us to—” the taller guard protested, clearly foolish enough to believe his immediate supervisor outranked the king of the city.
Marius moved faster than Arlo’s eyes could track. Before the guard could finish his sentence, Marius had him pinned against a steel support beam, a silver custom-engraved handgun pressed directly beneath the man’s jawline.
“I will say this exactly one time,” Marius whispered, the metallic click of the hammer echoing loudly in the damp warehouse. “If those restraints are not off her wrists in three seconds, I will paint this pillar with your memories.”
The second guard scrambled forward in sheer panic, violently ripping a folding knife from his tactical vest. His hands shook so violently he almost dropped the blade as he sawed through the heavy plastic ties binding Marin’s wrists.
“Arlo,” Marin sobbed as the ties snapped. She slumped forward, her arms useless and numb, but Arlo was already there, throwing his tiny body into her lap and wrapping his arms around her waist.
“I got him, Mom,” Arlo cried into her ruined uniform. “I told the boss man, and he came.”
Marin looked up, her terrified, bloodshot eyes locking onto Marius Rose. She recognized the man she had served wine to from afar a hundred times. The man who practically owned the police force.
“Why?” Marin rasped, clutching her son to her chest like a shield. “Why did your people do this to me?”
Marius lowered his weapon, though he didn’t put it away. He stepped over the spilled bucket of water, looking down at the terrified mother and her fiercely protective child.
“Because you saw something you shouldn’t have,” the taller guard spat from the corner, desperately trying to regain some sense of control. “Garrett knows you saw the drop at the docks, Marin. You’re a liability.”
Marius slowly turned his head to look at the guard who had just spoken. The temperature in the room seemed to plummet another ten degrees.
“What drop?” Marius asked, his voice deadly quiet. “Garrett does not have authorization to run shipments through the docks.”
The guard’s eyes widened in sudden, horrifying realization of his mistake. He had just confessed to a rogue operation right in front of the syndicate’s architect.
“Boss, wait, let me explain—” the guard stammered, taking a desperate step backward toward the exit.
“You don’t need to explain anything,” Marius said softly, raising his weapon. “You just need to answer one question…”
