The attic window above Peace Restaurant creaked open.
Nick leaned out, his curly hair blowing in the evening breeze.
His missing front tooth turned every word into a whistle as he pointed excitedly down at the street.
“Look, Dad!
That big guy’s about to have the worst day of his life.
Alvin’s going to teach him a lesson.” Just as Alvin had expected.
Whenever Frank showed up, Nick accepted him without hesitation, greeting him with the same easy enthusiasm every time.
There were moments when the boy wondered what it would be like to meet his real father, but his mother had always told him the same story.
His father served his country.
Dangerous work.
Important work.
A hero.
That image had never faded, even if Frank only existed as a voice on the other end of a telephone.
Nick had been waiting for him for years.
Frank rested one hand on the boy’s shoulder while the other drifted instinctively toward the pistol at his waist.
He had watched everything unfold from the very beginning.
Intimidating some street-level gangster wasn’t impressive.
But Black Bear wasn’t some nobody.
Even in New York, he had a reputation.
Frank had read Alvin’s file.
He had even investigated him personally.
The problem was that every lead dissolved into rumors.
Some stories practically turned Alvin into an urban legend.
Nobody had actually seen him fight.
His enemies either vanished…
…or fled the city.
And the ones who ran refused to say what had happened.
Frank watched with growing curiosity.
Two men against fourteen armed gangsters.
He quietly counted the rounds left in his handgun.
If Alvin got into real trouble…
He’d intervene.
Then the situation changed.
Nick’s voice dropped into an excited whisper.
“They’re here!
Rome!
Athens!
Sparta!
They’re all here!” “The bad guys are finished.” Frank narrowed his eyes.
Across the street, three enormous wolves emerged from the shadows.
They were every bit as massive as the two already guarding the restaurant.
The instant Alvin flicked his cigar into Black Bear’s face…
All five wolves attacked.
They moved like gray lightning.
Claws sharp enough to shave steel sliced through ankles before the gangsters even realized what was happening.
Blood sprayed across the pavement.
Frank prided himself on fast reflexes.
Even he could barely follow their movements.
Not one gangster managed to fire.
Anyone reaching for a gun had a paw slash across the hand before they could draw.
One particularly unlucky thug lost half his palm, the severed flesh spinning through the air before landing several yards away.
The entire fight lasted less than ten seconds.
Then it was over.
More than a dozen gangsters rolled across the pavement, clutching shredded legs and screaming.
Black Bear had it worst.
Thor and Dom had each seized one of his legs.
The two wolves pulled in opposite directions while the huge gangster lay flat on the asphalt, shrieking in absolute terror as his legs were stretched farther…
…and farther…
Until they formed an agonizing straight line.
Frank unconsciously wiped sweat from his forehead.
His own legs clenched together in sympathetic pain.
A man nearly six and a half feet tall being pulled apart like that…
Frank honestly thought a bullet would have been more merciful.
Nick pumped a triumphant fist.
“I knew it!
Alvin’s amazing!
Bad guys always get punished!” Frank snorted.
“Those dogs are amazing.
Alvin himself isn’t that special.” He wasn’t about to admit another man had become his son’s hero.
Nick gave him a long look.
“Hah…” He didn’t argue.
He simply smiled to himself, as if he knew something Frank didn’t.
Frank cleared his throat.
“When I’m on leave, I’ll take you hunting.
Then you’ll see what I can do.
Training animals is nothing compared to real marksmanship.” “Hah…” Nick ignored the boasting.
“Well…
that ended too fast.” He sighed dramatically.
“I should go finish my homework before Alvin gets on my case.” He patted Frank on the waist like an understanding adult comforting a friend.
“Don’t worry if you can’t help.
The questions are really hard.
I won’t hold it against you.” He nodded with exaggerated sympathy.
“Starting this late in life makes studying difficult, but it’s okay.
As long as I can solve them, it’ll just take a little longer.” Frank felt his blood pressure spike.
He had been shot.
He had lost enough blood to make most people pass out.
Yet somehow this conversation felt more dangerous.
Remembering all the bragging he’d done downstairs only made it worse.
With a resentful grunt, he followed Nick inside to look over the homework.
The first problem read: ABCD × 9 = DCBA Find the value of ABCD.
Frank stared.
Then stared some more.
“…What the hell?” “This is second-grade math?” He had to physically suppress the urge to hunt down Nick’s math teacher.
His fingers dug into his own hair as he watched Nick slowly work through the problem.
It wasn’t easy.
The boy struggled.
Made mistakes.
Started over.
But eventually…
He solved it.
Only then did Frank realize Alvin hadn’t been messing with the kid.
Which immediately led to another terrifying thought.
Just what exactly are they teaching at this neighborhood school?
Outside the restaurant…
The screaming had become unbearable.
Alvin shot JJ a look.
JJ grinned viciously.
Under Jason’s horrified gaze, he grabbed an iron bar leaning beside the doorway.
One by one…
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Every gangster still writhing on the pavement was knocked unconscious.
Silence settled over the street.
Only Black Bear remained awake.
He clutched himself desperately between the legs, letting out ragged screams that grew weaker with every passing second.
Alvin glanced at the cigar that had exploded against Black Bear’s face before falling onto the pavement.
He sighed.
“Waste of a good cigar.” He lit another one.
A sharp whistle echoed through the street.
Thor and Dom immediately released Black Bear and trotted over to Alvin, rubbing against him affectionately before returning to their usual positions outside the restaurant.
They looked almost disappointed.
Black Bear hadn’t lasted long enough to make the hunt entertaining.
Unfortunately for Black Bear…
The wolves letting go didn’t mean his legs recovered.
They simply lay there like overcooked noodles.
His hands remained clamped protectively over his crotch.
His screams had faded into hoarse, airless gasps.
Nothing remained of the swaggering gangster who had declared war only minutes earlier.
Alvin walked over and nudged him onto his back with a foot.
He crouched beside the broken man and exhaled a slow stream of cigar smoke.
“You know, this could’ve been easy.” He shrugged.
“That’s the part I regret.” For all his faults, Black Bear possessed a gangster’s stubborn pride.
He didn’t beg.
He didn’t surrender.
Instead, he glared at Alvin with what he imagined was pure hatred.
Unfortunately, given his current condition, the expression bordered on ridiculous.
Alvin played along anyway.
“So…” “Still have objections to my proposal?” Grinding his teeth, Black Bear rasped through the pain.
“You’ll regret this.” “I swear you will.” “You’ll die.” “So will your family.” “The Viper Gang will make sure of it.” Alvin looked at him the way someone might examine a particularly slow goldfish.
“Kingpin couldn’t pull that off.” “What makes you think a drug dealer can?” “You people survive in New York through cruelty and intimidation.” He took another puff from his cigar.
Squatting there with smoke curling around him stirred an odd sense of nostalgia.
“As for actual combat…” He smiled.
“You’re not even tougher than the Russian mob in Hell’s Kitchen.” He pointed toward the unconscious gangsters.
“Think about my offer.” “Or better yet…” “Call your boss.” “Ask Bloody Jason what he thinks.” Black Bear turned his head and spat a mouthful of blood onto the pavement.
His smile twisted into something feral.
“My boss will come here himself.” “With gunmen.” “He’ll kill every last one of you.” Alvin wrinkled his nose.
At that exact moment, he reached out through his mental link with his pet raven.
A flood of information hit him.
He jolted as if he’d touched a live wire.
His expression darkened.
“Then make the call.” “Tell your boss to haul his fat ass out of the massage tub at his Long Island mansion…” “…and pass along my proposal.” He looked down at Black Bear.
“My patience is running out.”