Chapter 1 - The Shadow of the Past
Six months had passed since the steel doors of the federal penitentiary slammed shut on Richard Carter.
Evelyn had traded her mahogany chambers for a small, brick-walled office in the heart of the city’s poorest district.
She named it the Innocence Defense Clinic.
The air here smelled of old paper and stale coffee, a stark contrast to the polished marble of the courthouse.
She spent her days reading through thousands of desperate letters from inmates claiming they were framed.
Lucas often visited her during his lunch breaks, bringing fresh sandwiches and a bright smile that she had missed for nine years.
He had become the city’s most celebrated investigative journalist.
His explosive article about his father’s corruption had won a national award.
But true peace was an illusion when you had dismantled a multi-million dollar criminal empire.
It was a cold Tuesday evening when the first warning arrived.
Evelyn was the last person in the clinic, organizing files under the dim glow of a desk lamp.
The heavy glass of the front window suddenly shattered into a million pieces.
A brick wrapped in a piece of heavy black cloth landed directly on her desk.
Evelyn instinctively dropped to the floor, her heart hammering against her ribs.
She waited in the terrifying silence, listening for footsteps or the crack of a gunshot.
When nothing happened, she slowly crawled toward the desk and reached for the brick.
Her hands trembled as she unwrapped the black cloth.
Inside was a single, silver bullet and a handwritten note.
The handwriting was elegantly cursive, terrifyingly familiar, and completely chilling.
The note read, "Did you really think the network belonged only to Richard?"
Evelyn felt the blood drain from her face as she stared at the menacing words.
Richard had always been a middleman, a political fixer who connected the underworld to the upper class.
She realized with a sinking dread that they had only cut off one head of the snake.
The true leaders of the drug cartel were still out there, hiding in the shadows.
And they were coming for the woman who had exposed their most profitable operation.
She immediately picked up her phone and dialed Lucas.
The phone rang endlessly, echoing in the empty, broken room.
When it finally went to voicemail, panic gripped her throat like a vice.
May you like
She grabbed her coat and rushed out into the freezing rain.
The war was not over, and the enemy was no longer playing by the rules of the courtroom.
