Forty minutes.
The number felt like a heavy stone sitting on my chest, making every breath a struggle. Daniel’s knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel, his eyes scanning the rainy streets for any sign of a tail.
"We can't just give him the contract," I whispered, clutching the yellowed parchment in my lap. My fingers were shaking so badly I could hear the paper crinkling. "He’ll kill them anyway. He'll kill us all."
"I know," Daniel said, his voice a low, steady rumble. He turned the car sharply, tires splashing through a deep puddle. "That’s why we’re not going to the warehouse yet. We need leverage. Something that scares Pierce more than a piece of paper."
He pulled the car into a dark, narrow alley behind a nondescript glass building. It looked like any other office b
