Chapter 10 - The Last Street
The sun had fully dipped below the horizon by the time Marcus locked the office door and walked down the steel staircase of the Pier 44 logistics center.
The evening air was crisp, carrying the sharp, clean scent of salt water and diesel fuel from the evening shift change. Down on the loading bays, dockworkers were laughing, loading crates onto electric trucks, their voices carrying the easy, unburdened rhythm of men who knew they were working for their own families, not for a faceless syndicate or a corrupt corporate board.
As Marcus stepped out onto the paved courtyard, a familiar, heavy form brushed against his leg.
Rusty looked up, his amber eyes catching the amber glow of the new security lamps overhead, letting out a low, contented huff before trotting ahead toward the perimeter gate where Cass was waiting, her hands tucked deep into her jacket pockets, watching the evening traffic roll past on the avenue.
Elena lingered near the doorway of the office building, tossing a set of keys in the air and catching them with a sharp clink. "You heading home, Cole?"
Marcus paused, looking out past the gates toward the endless grid of city streets stretching out beneath the twilight sky—the same streets where he had bled, where he had fallen, and where he had finally learned what it meant to stand.
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"Not home, Elena," Marcus said, a quiet, genuine smile touching his lips for the first time in eighteen years. "Just out for a walk."
He adjusted his collar against the evening breeze, stepping forward to catch up with the girl and the brindle dog as they turned the corner onto the avenue, walking side by side into the growing light of a city that had finally forgotten its old name, and was busy writing a brand-new one.
