บททั้งหมดของ Black Network: บทที่ 171 - บทที่ 180

The rain had stopped by the time Wallace reached the 24-hour fitness center on the edge of the financial district. The neon sign above the entrance buzzed weakly, half its letters burned out. He pushed through the glass doors, dripping onto the rubber mat, and the night clerk behind the counter barely looked up from his phone."Forgot my key fob," Wallace muttered, flashing a membership card he'd had for three years and used maybe six times. The clerk waved him through without a word.The locker room smelled of bleach and old sweat. Empty at this hour — just the hum of a vending machine and a single shower dripping somewhere behind the tile wall. Wallace walked past the rows of lockers, counting under his breath, until he reached the last one in the back corner, half-hidden behind a stack of folded towels nobody had picked up in days.He'd rented this locker eight months ago under a fake name, paid cash every renewal. Nobody at the bureau knew it existed. Nobody at the bureau knew Wal

Water dripped from the cracked ceiling, splashing into the dark subway tunnel.Kenji leaned against a rusted train car, flicking a silver lighter open and shut.Headlights cut the dark. A black SUV rolled over the muddy tracks and killed the engine. Shinjiro stepped out in tactical gear, Kato right behind him with a duffel bag.Shinjiro marched straight to his uncle. "The old man gave the green light. He wants Dominic Moretti dead.""What's the play?" Kenji snapped the lighter shut."Midnight, flat out, at Pier 4," Shinjiro said. "Ichiro bought out the whole dock tonight. He wants a bloodbath.""He wants a free pass, kid." Kenji's eyes narrowed. "But we aren't fighting his war."Shinjiro reached into his vest, pulled out a folded sheet of paper, and slammed it against the train car. A list of names."The Chairman doesn't trust anyone," Shinjiro growled, tapping the top. "The old bastard planted eyes inside my own Vanguard crew."Kenji stepped closer. "Who's leaking?""Taro's running t

Their leader didn't look back. He shrugged, turned, and walked out into the rain. His eleven men followed, their shapes folding into the fog.Taro pressed his spine flat against the splintering wood, eyes wild. "They're leaving. They're breaking the line.""They're mutinying!" Yosuke ripped his empty magazine out and slammed a fresh one home. "The Chairman ordered this raid. They can't just walk!""The Chairman's an old man reading spreadsheets in a glass tower," a voice said in Taro's earpiece, level, almost bored.Taro's chest went cold. "Kato. Your boys are breaking formation. They're leaving us exposed. Get them back inside.""They're doing exactly what they were told." Kato's voice carried no weight at all, no urgency, nothing Taro could push against. "They're leaving you in the dirt."A bullet tore through Taro's shoulder pad before he could answer. "You're selling out Ichiro.""We answer to Shinjiro now, Taro. Not the old man." Something in Kato's tone almost passed for amuseme

The smoke was still rising when Gabe got to his office.He stood at the floor-to-ceiling window with a cup of coffee going cold in his hand, watching the thin black column curl up from the direction of Pier 4 against the gray dawn sky. At this distance it looked almost peaceful — the kind of smoke that meant something was finished, not something that was starting.He'd gotten the call at 4 a.m. A brief one. Shinjiro's people had hit the warehouse. Casualties on both sides, nothing that couldn't be managed. Moretti's men had pushed back harder than expected, but the important thing was that the pier was burned, the ledgers were gone, and whatever Moretti had been sitting on in that back office wouldn't survive the morning.Gabe set his coffee on the windowsill and checked his phone. Nothing from Moss yet, which suited him fine. She'd locked the perimeter down — he'd seen the tape himself when he drove past at dawn — but that was jurisdictional theater, the kind of move she made when sh

Rain lashed against the warehouse window. Hugo tossed a thick manila folder onto the metal table.Dominic just stared at it."Open it," Hugo said, pulling out a chair.Dominic flipped the cover. Inside were three high-res aerial photos. Men in tactical gear swarmed the North District freight yard, loading crates into transport trucks."Shinjiro Takahashi," Hugo said, tapping a face in the corner of the third shot. "The North yard is his now."Dominic leaned in, studying the perimeter."He moved his primary assault team there," Hugo added. "They didn't touch Pier 4."Dominic's eyes moved across the photo. Pier 4. Taro and Yosuke cut off and butchered. The backup squad walking into a kill box."We bled for this bastard," Dominic said.Hugo watched him. "What?""Shinjiro used us to clean his own house," Dominic said, pressing a hand flat on the picture. "Taro and Yosuke reported directly to Ichiro. Shinjiro wanted them gone. He used our bullets to do it."Hugo's mouth tightened. "We were