Chapter 5 - The Black Sedan at the Curb
Lena stood behind her counter, her apron clean, her hands steady, looking at the man who had fired her fifteen years ago.
"This stall meets every health and fire code in the municipal registry, Grisham," Lena replied, her voice calm, firm, and unyielding. "I pay my commercial taxes on the first of every month."
Inspector Vincent Cole laughed, tapping his badge. "The codes are whatever I say they are, old woman. The Association wants this corner for a luxury commercial coffee franchise. Clear out, or face fifty thousand dollars in regulatory fines."
Around the counter, regular customers—two mechanics and a young mother—stepped back in anxious silence.
Grisham blew smoke into the air, turning to leave with an arrogant chuckle. "Forty-eight hours, Lena. Start packing."
SCREEECH.
A long, midnight-black Maybach limousine accompanied by two armored black Suburbans pulled smoothly to the curb, blocking the entire intersection.
The sleek tinted doors of the Maybach parted.
Stepping onto the asphalt was a tall, breathtakingly elegant young woman in her early twenties.
She wore a bespoke ivory wool power coat over a tailored charcoal silk suit, her golden-brown hair falling in pristine waves past her shoulders, radiating sovereign, untouchable authority.
Flanking her were Julian Hayes, Chief Legal Counsel of Aegis Horizon Global, and four private security operatives in dark suits.
Every customer, mechanic, and pedestrian on the street froze in absolute, breathless silence.
Grisham’s cigar slipped from his fingers, falling onto the sidewalk.
"Who the hell is that...?" Inspector Cole stammered.
May you like
The young woman did not look at Grisham. She did not look at the inspectors.
She walked straight past the crowd, her polished heels clicking against the pavement, stopping directly in front of Lena’s wooden counter.
