Chapter 4 - Reckoning in Dorchester
Derek raised his heavy boot to kick the door one final time.
Before his foot could land, a heavy hand clamped onto his shoulder from behind, spinning him around with terrifying force.
Derek stumbled, his hand instinctively dropping to the Glock holstered at his hip. "What the hell do you think you're doing? I'm an officer of the—"
The words died in his throat.
Standing in the dim, graffiti-scarred hallway were four massive men built like brick walls, their cold eyes staring down at him with lethal indifference. And stepping out from the center of them was Gabriel Ashford.
Gabriel adjusted his cuffs, his dark gaze sweeping over Derek’s unpolished badge and disheveled uniform with undisguised contempt.
"Derek Lawson," Gabriel said smoothly, his voice echoing off the concrete walls. "Patrolman, Precinct 12. A man of modest means with very expensive habits."
Derek swallowed hard, sweat beading on his forehead. Even in Roxbury, everyone knew who Gabriel Ashford was. Crossing a street boss was suicide; crossing him on his own turf was an execution.
"Mr... Mr. Ashford," Derek stammered, trying to puff out his chest. "This is a private domestic matter. It has nothing to do with you. My wife—"
"She isn't your wife anymore," Gabriel interrupted, his voice dropping into a register that made the bodyguards step half a step closer. "And she is under my direct protection."
"Protection?" Derek sneered, a desperate, nervous laugh escaping his lips. "You're sheltering a fugitive? What, is she cleaning your toilets while you run drugs through the Seaport? I can call backup right now. I can—"
"You can't do anything," Gabriel cut him off, stepping so close Derek had to lean back against the apartment door. Gabriel's eyes narrowed into twin slits of pure ice. "You raise your voice in this building again, you lift a finger toward Harper or her brother, and I won't just have you stripped of your badge. I'll have your department audit every dirty dollar you've taken over the last three years, and then I'll let my men introduce you to the bottom of Boston Harbor."
Derek’s face drained of all color. He knew Ashford wasn't bluffing. Men like Gabriel didn't make empty threats.
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"We're leaving now, Lawson," Gabriel said, turning his back on the disgraced cop with utter disdain. "And if I ever see you within three miles of this neighborhood again, you won't live to regret it."
Gabriel tapped the door with his knuckles. "Harper. Open up."
