Chapter 8 - The Brother’s Return
While Sadie immersed herself in restoring the damaged landscape painting, the outside world closed in with sudden, violent velocity. Arthur Bennett—foolish, desperate, and plagued by agonizing guilt over abandoning his sister—had spent the past week hiding out in a sleazy motel near Newark Airport. Convinced that Victor Hale was hunting him down, Arthur made the catastrophic mistake of attempting to sneak back into Brooklyn to pull remaining funds from a secondary stash house. What Arthur didn't know was that rival enforcers working for Carmine Vitale had been staking out his known contacts. Within twenty minutes of crossing the state line, Arthur was ambushed in a dark alleyway behind a 24-hour diner by two of Vitale’s thugs, who dragged him screaming into the back of a black van. They didn't want him for questioning; they wanted to use him as live bait to lure Victor Hale out into the open. Back at the Greenwich estate, Paul DeMarco rushed into Victor’s private study just as Victor was reviewing evening security rotations. “Boss, we just caught a radio intercept from Vitale’s outer perimeter,” Paul reported urgently. “They picked up your accountant—Arthur Bennett. They’re broadcasting an open invitation: if you want the boy alive, you show up alone at the abandoned railway yards in Long Island City by midnight.” Victor stood up slowly, his expression turning into an absolute mask of cold, predatory granite. “Arthur is a fool who brought this war to my doorstep,” Victor said coldly. “Let him rot.” He paused, his gaze drifting toward the closed door leading upstairs to the guest suite where Sadie was currently resting. Victor knew that if Arthur died, Sadie would never forgive him—and worse, she would carry the crushing burden of grief for the only family she had left. “Get the tactical teams ready, Paul,” Victor corrected quietly. “We’re going to Long Island City. Nobody touches Arthur Bennett without my permission.”
