Chapter 105: The Blind Wolf

The Queens Tunnel was blocked by police tape. Flashing lights painted the damp walls in blue and red.

Jackson stood in front of the empty school bus. The door had been pried open by hydraulic jaws.

Inside, backpacks were scattered on the floor.

Jackson walked down the aisle, his boots crunching on broken glass. He stopped at the back seat.

There, wedged between the seats, was Aurora’s teddy bear.

He picked it up. It still smelled like strawberries—her shampoo.

"Boss," Luke walked onto the bus, his face grim. "We scanned the tunnel. No fingerprints. No tire tracks. And the EMP... it fried everything within two miles. We have no satellite data. We are blind."

Jackson squeezed the teddy bear until his knuckles turned white.

"They used my reliance on tech against me," Jackson whispered. His voice sounded like gravel grinding together. "They knew I would be looking at screens. So they went analog."

He turned around. The sorrow in his eyes was gone, replaced by a dark, endless void.

"If we can't track them with computers," Jackson walked off the bus. "We track them with pain."

"Sir?"

"Find me the license plate of the van they used," Jackson unbuttoned his suit jacket and threw it on the ground. He rolled up his white shirt sleeves. "It was an old diesel model. Immune to EMP. That means they bought it from a junkyard or stolen vehicle ring."

"I... I can try to contact my informants in the underground," Luke hesitated. "But it will take time."

"I don't have time," Jackson pulled a knife from his ankle holster. "Take me to Gallows Point."

Luke’s eyes widened. "The chop shop district? Boss, that's run by the Russian Mob. They hate you."

"Good," Jackson walked towards his car. "I'm in the mood to hit something."

---

One hour later. Gallows Point, Queens.

It was a dark, industrial wasteland full of rusted cars and shady deals.

Jackson kicked open the door of the largest garage. Ten men stopped working on stolen cars and looked up. They were holding wrenches and crowbars.

"Who’s the suit?" A large man with tattoos stepped forward.

"I'm looking for a grey 1990 Ford Econoline van," Jackson said calmly. "Who sold it today?"

"Get lost, rich boy," the tattoo man sneered. He swung a tire iron at Jackson’s head.

Jackson didn't flinch. He caught the iron mid-swing.

CRACK.

He kicked the man’s knee backward. The man screamed. Jackson grabbed him by the throat and slammed him onto the hood of a car.

"I'm asking one more time," Jackson pressed his knife against the man's eye. "Who bought the van?"

The other nine thugs charged.

It wasn't a fight. It was a massacre.

Jackson moved with the efficiency of a man who had nothing left to lose. He broke arms. He dislocated shoulders. He used their own tools against them.

Three minutes later.

The garage was silent, except for groans of pain. Jackson stood in the center, breathing heavily. His white shirt was splattered with oil and blood—not his own.

The tattooed leader, now terrified, pointed a shaking finger at a ledger on the desk.

"It... it was a shell company! 'Architect Solutions'! They paid cash! They took the van to the Docks! Pier 42!"

Jackson released him. "Pier 42. Thank you."

He walked out of the garage, wiping his hands on a rag.

Luke was waiting outside, leaning against the car. He looked at the unconscious men inside and whistled.

"You really worked out some stress in there, Boss."

"We have a location," Jackson got into the car. "Pier 42. They are moving them by boat."

He pulled out his phone. The signal was back. He dialed Serenity.

"Jackson?" Her voice was frantic. "Did you find them?"

"I have a lead," Jackson said, his voice softening only for her. "Serenity... I need you to do something difficult."

"Anything."

"Call Sebastian. Tell him to activate The Wolf Protocol," Jackson watched the city skyline blur as they sped away.

"The Wolf Protocol?" Serenity gasped. "But... that signals your father. If Liam comes out of hiding, The Order will sense him."

"I know," Jackson’s eyes were cold.

"But to find our cubs, we need the biggest wolf in the pack."