Chapter 5 - The Gathering at Calumet
A dense fog rolled off Lake Michigan, swallowing the abandoned industrial concrete silos along the Calumet River in a damp, gray shroud.
At 11:55 p.m., a single black sedan pulled into the gravel clearing between the rusted conveyor belts.
Vincent stepped out of the vehicle, wearing a long black overcoat, his hands empty.
Behind him, bundled in an oversized coat and weeping hysterically, walked Sophia.
"Vincent, please!" Sophia begged, clutching his arm with desperate, manicured nails.
"This is an ambush! Dante is going to kill us both! Why did you bring me here?!"
"Because Dante doesn't make hollow threats," Vincent replied flatly, shaking her grip from his sleeve.
"And I want to look my brother in the eye."
A pair of halogen floodlights snapped on from the catwalk thirty feet above, blinding them in a harsh, white glare.
Dante stepped forward from the shadows of the grain elevator, flanked by six heavily armed private contractors wearing tactical gear.
Beside him, supported by a polished wooden cane and dressed in an ivory winter coat, stood me.
Vincent’s breath hitched in his throat.
His eyes locked onto me, taking in the pale curve of my jaw, the dark bruises fading along my neck, and the cold, unyielding hatred radiating from my posture.
"Claire..." Vincent choked out, taking an involuntary step forward.
A red laser dot appeared on the center of his chest, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"Stay right there, Vincent," Dante said, his voice echoing off the corrugated metal walls.
"You're not here to play the repentant husband tonight."
"Claire, I'm sorry!" Vincent yelled, his voice cracking with raw, unvarnished agony.
"I was a fool! I should have stayed! I should have kicked that door down! Please... come home with me! We can rebuild everything!"
I leaned on my cane, stepping forward onto the gravel until the floodlights illuminated my face.
"Rebuild what, Vincent?" I asked, my voice slicing through the cold night air like a razor.
"Rebuild the nursery that burned to ash while you were feeding her dessert? Rebuild the heart of the child that died because you blocked my number?"
Sophia shrank behind Vincent's broad back, trembling from head to toe as she recognized the armed men surrounding the perimeter.
"Claire, she had a medical emergency that night!" Vincent pleaded, gesturing wildly toward Sophia.
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"She called me crying—"
"She called you," I interrupted, raising my hand to signal Dante's technician, "because she needed an alibi."
