Chapter 7 - The Monster Awakens
Vincent dropped the burner phone on the bed.
He rushed over and scooped Maisie into his arms.
The little girl clung to his neck, crying for her mother.
Vincent held her tightly.
He promised her he would bring her mommy back.
He realized he could no longer play defense.
Victor Thorne had crossed a line that could never be uncrossed.
Vincent pulled out a secure encrypted phone.
He dialed a number he had sworn never to call again.
An old man answered on the second ring.
It was Carmine Carrow, Vincent's retired and heavily guarded father.
Carmine asked his son why he was calling after ten years of silence.
Vincent said the Thorne family had taken Julian's daughter-in-law.
Carmine went completely silent on the other end of the line.
Vincent told his father about the hard drive and little Maisie.
He asked for the keys to the family's shadow armory.
Carmine did not hesitate.
He gave Vincent an address in the industrial district.
Vincent wrapped Maisie in a blanket and carried her to a stolen car.
He drove her to Carmine's heavily fortified penthouse.
He handed the little girl over to a team of elite bodyguards.
Maisie grabbed Vincent's bloody shirt.
She asked him if he was going to get a daddy hug when he came back.
Vincent kissed the top of her head.
He told her she could give him a hundred hugs.
He walked out of the penthouse and descended to the street.
He drove to the armory and loaded a tactical bag with military-grade weapons.
He strapped a Kevlar vest over his chest.
He was no longer a businessman.
He was the monster Philadelphia had always feared.
His phone buzzed with a text message from Thorne.
May you like
The message contained an address at the shipping shipyards.
The final line read that he had one hour before the maid died.
