Chapter 1

The rain in Brooklyn didn't fall.

Elsie gripped the steering wheel of her beat-up Honda, her knuckles turning a translucent white. The windshield wipers shrieked against the glass, smearing the heavy downpour rather than clearing it. It was 2:00 AM. Her shift at the diner had ended three hours late, and her spine felt like it was made of crushed glass.

She turned the corner onto her street. The headlights cut through the sheets of rain, illuminating the flooded asphalt.

Then, the beams hit something solid.

Elsie slammed her foot on the brake pedal. The worn tires locked. The Honda hydroplaned, the chassis shuddering violently before slamming to a halt inches from the mouth of a dark alley.

Her heart hammered against her ribs, the frantic thumping echoing in her ears.

A massive, dark shape lay motionless on the pavement, half-submerged in a filthy puddle.

Elsie's breath hitched. She reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed the small canister of pepper spray she bought at CVS. Her fingers trembled as she popped the safety tab.

She pushed the car door open. The freezing rain instantly soaked through her thin waitress uniform, plastering the polyester to her skin.

She took a cautious step forward.

Under the flickering orange glow of a broken streetlight, the shape resolved into a man. He was face down, wearing a dark, custom-tailored suit that clung to his broad shoulders.

Then she saw the water around him. It wasn't just muddy. It was thick, swirling with dark, heavy ribbons of crimson. The blood was pouring from a horrific gunshot wound in his abdomen, washing straight into the storm drain.

Bile rose in Elsie's throat. Her stomach violently contracted.

She took a step back. She needed to get back in the car. She needed to call 911.

Before her foot could touch the asphalt, a massive, ice-cold hand shot out from the puddle.

Fingers like steel clamps wrapped around her ankle.

Elsie screamed, the sound tearing her throat raw. She aimed the pepper spray directly at his face, her thumb pressing down on the trigger.

The man rolled onto his side. He forced his eyes open.

They were the color of a starless night, pitch-black and terrifyingly sharp. Even bleeding out in the gutter, his gaze carried a suffocating weight. It pinned her in place.

His Adam's apple bobbed. When he spoke, his voice was a wet, gravelly rasp.

"Don't call the cops."

Elsie kicked her leg, trying to break his grip. "Let go of me!"

His fingers dug harder into her skin, bruising her flesh. "Help me."

"I'm not getting involved in a gang war!" she yelled over the thunder, her chest heaving. "Let go!"

He stared unblinkingly into her terrified eyes.

"Five million dollars."

The words barely left his pale lips, but they hit Elsie with the force of a physical blow.

Five million.

The number echoed in her skull, drowning out the rain. It wasn't just money. It was Ethan's asthma medication. It was a way out of this rotting neighborhood. It was life.

She bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted copper. She looked left. She looked right. The street was dead.

She shoved the pepper spray into her pocket.

Elsie dropped to her knees in the bloody water. She shoved her arms under his massive armpits. The fabric of his suit was soaked and heavy.

"Get up," she grunted, her muscles burning as she hauled him upward.

He was dead weight. His massive frame crushed against her frail shoulders. They stumbled through the mud, a grotesque three-legged race toward the Honda.

She practically threw him into the backseat. His blood instantly soaked into the cheap, frayed fabric.

Elsie slammed the door, sprinted to the driver's seat, and floored the gas.

The car smelled like cheap vanilla air freshener, expensive cedarwood cologne, and hot, raw pennies.

Ten minutes later, the Honda limped into the underground parking garage of her decaying apartment building.

She dragged him out of the car. He was semi-conscious now, his breathing shallow and ragged. She threw his arm over her shoulder, avoiding the blind spots of the security cameras, and hauled him toward the fire stairs.

Three flights. Every step felt like lifting a boulder.

They reached the third-floor hallway. As they passed Mrs. Brenda's door, the man let out a low, agonizing groan.

Cold sweat broke out on the back of Elsie's neck.

She slammed her hand over his mouth and shoved him hard against the peeling wallpaper. She held her breath, her chest pressed against his arm, waiting for the sound of Brenda's deadbolt turning.

Silence.

Elsie let out a shaky exhale. She fumbled with her keys, her hands shaking so badly she dropped them twice before finally unlocking her door.

She dragged him into her bedroom and dumped him onto the squeaky iron-frame bed.

She ran to the bathroom, grabbed her plastic first-aid kit, and rushed back. She took a pair of scissors and ruthlessly cut open his expensive shirt.

She poured hydrogen peroxide directly into the bullet hole.

The man's entire body went rigid. His abdominal muscles locked tight, veins popping on his neck, but he didn't scream.

Elsie taped a thick square of gauze over the wound.

Then, she looked at him. He was a predator. Even unconscious, he radiated danger.

A fresh wave of terror washed over her. She couldn't just leave him loose in her home.

She remembered the rusted toolbox her deadbeat ex-husband had left behind. She opened the bottom drawer of her nightstand and pulled out a handful of thick, industrial plastic zip ties he used to use for securing car parts.

She grabbed his thick wrists. She wrapped the plastic bands around his skin and the rusted iron bars of the headboard, pulling them tight until they clicked and locked into place.

Elsie dragged a wooden chair to the corner of the room, furthest from the bed. She picked up Ethan's aluminum baseball bat, gripped it with both hands, and sat in the shadows, staring at the monster she had just brought home.