e black card bac

estaurant, the cold air

er's seat and looked a

re you staying

de deep in Brooklyn, his vo

froze on the

behind her sunglasses, waiting for

ared strai

and she pressed the gas pedal, steeri

rapers of Manhattan fade

ent cracked, and the brick walls wer

to a crawl, her tires th

crumbling red-brick

a loud buzzing sound, casting harsh sha

chest tightening w

" she insisted, unbu

didn'

eavy, rusted metal d

cigarettes hit Alyssa's nose in

drail, her heels sinking into the

hed the t

key from his pocket and shov

aling a space no bigger tha

oorway, her breath ca

al bed frame, and a tiny kitche

coat and draped it o

he sink and tu

behind the wall before spitti

ap glass and he

the times she had seen him drinking only

closed up

nto her bag, and pulled out a th

sh down on the chi

d, her voice shaking slightly.

t the money, hi

investment contract

t rising and falling fast. "I'm not l

g in this suffocating r

and practically

e stairs until the heavy metal

to the small

Porsche speed away

look on his face v

next to the front door and pushed

t scanned hi

at starkly contrasted the decay outside. The reinforced steel walls hummed with the quiet power of a dedicated, o

He allowed himself a grim, fleeting smile, thankful for the split second he had taken to slip the magnetic mi