Chapter 6

Noah strode out of the wealthy neighborhood where the Black Estate was located, turning down the offer of a ride from the estate's driver.

He was about to turn a dark street corner when a scream cut through the air, making him uneasy.

"Let go of me! Don't touch me! You bastards!" The woman's cries grew louder and more desperate.

Noah stopped and frowned.

He followed the sound and saw five street thugs in studded leather jackets, covered in tattoos, pinning a woman against the wall at the end of a dead-end alley.

Her coat had already been roughly torn halfway off. She was struggling frantically in terror, but she was no match for them.

A flicker of conflict crossed Noah's face. He was in a hurry. The Blood Skull gang could move the Black Group's hostages and cargo at any moment, and he needed to get to his rival's hideout as fast as possible.

He had no intention of wasting a single second on some random street mess. He was about to walk away when his gaze drifted, almost by accident, to the side of the woman's face.

She had wine-red curly hair and a few faint freckles across her nose.

"It's her." Noah's hand froze.

It was Vivian Campbell -- his old neighbor from when he lived in the slums as a kid. A timid but kind-hearted girl.

In his memory, Vivian was always running after him.

If it had been anyone else, Noah would have turned and walked away without a second thought. But leaving someone he knew like this didn't sit right with him.

And these thugs were bad news. If he left Vivian alone in this alley, what happened to her wouldn't be pretty.

Noah shoved the car keys back into his pocket and walked straight toward the thugs with long, unhurried strides.

"Hey, guys." He stopped a few steps away, his voice completely flat, no emotion at all, but carrying a weight that made it clear he wasn't asking. "Get your hands off her and get out of this street."

All five thugs stopped at once and turned to look at Noah with contempt.

The leader, a guy with a nose ring, looked Noah up and down and spat on the ground.

"Well, well. Look at this. Some well-dressed toy boy who wandered out of the rich side of town, trying to play superhero in the slums?"

He let out a cocky whistle and pulled a switchblade from his waistband. "Listen up, idiot. I'm in a good mood right now, so walk away while you still can. Otherwise, I'll beat the hell out of you too and knock out every single tooth in your mouth."

Vivian used the moment to break free from their grip. She stared at Noah with wide, terrified eyes.

The tall man looked vaguely familiar, but she was too scared to think straight. She screamed at him, "Sir! Run! They have knives! Don't worry about me -- just call the police!"

She didn't want an innocent person getting stabbed to death because of her.

Despite the nose-ring guy's threat and Vivian's warning, Noah didn't take a single step back. His expression didn't change at all.

"Go to hell, you nosy piece of trash!" Seeing that Noah wasn't taking them seriously, the nose-ring guy swung a hard slap at Noah's face.

The crack of it stunned everyone in the alley.

The nose-ring guy felt deeply humiliated. He cursed and drove the switchblade hard toward Noah's stomach.

Vivian squeezed her eyes shut in despair. Then she heard the snap of breaking bone, followed by a scream so sharp it echoed through the entire alley.

Vivian's eyes flew open. She clapped a hand over her mouth in disbelief.

The nose-ring guy's entire right arm was bent in a sickening wave shape. Noah had kicked him ten feet through the air and sent him crashing hard into a nearby trash can.

The other four thugs froze for a split second, then rushed at Noah with their weapons.

But to someone like Noah -- a former top-tier professional killer -- their moves were almost laughable, like watching little kids throw punches.

Noah didn't bother with any defensive moves. He stepped straight into them and shattered one man's jaw with a single punch.

Then he twisted sideways to dodge a swinging baseball bat, grabbed the guy's wrist with his other hand, and snapped it back hard.

The second bone crack rang out clean and sharp. Noah followed through by driving his knee up into the third thug's chest with full force.

In under ten seconds, all five thugs were on the ground, covered in blood. Some were clutching broken arms. Some were spitting out blood mixed with teeth. It was not something you wanted to look at twice.

Noah walked over and planted his foot on the nose-ring guy's chest.

"I'm sorry, man, I'm so sorry," the guy sobbed, tears and snot running down his face, begging like crazy. "We'll never do it again! Please let us go!"

"Get out," Noah said it was cold and flat.

The thugs dragged themselves up off the ground, leaning on each other as they stumbled out of the alley. Not one of them dared to look back.

The alley went quiet. All that was left was the sound of Vivian's quick, shallow breathing.

She stared at the man in front of her like he was some kind of god of war, completely at a loss for words.

"You okay, Vivian?" Noah dusted off his hands, his voice a little softer now.

Hearing her name snapped Vivian out of it completely.

She studied his face carefully, and the old memory clicked into place all at once.

"Holy shit... you're Noah? Noah Wilson -- the one who used to live on the corner?" Her eyes went wide.

"Yeah, it's me." Noah gave a small nod.

"It really is you!" Vivian got up and walked toward him quickly, her eyes going a little red. "If you hadn't shown up, I don't know what would've happened to me today. I can't thank you enough."

Vivian took a breath and tried to calm her pounding heart, pulling her torn coat tighter around herself.

A moment later, a faint spark of something lit up in her eyes. "Noah, it's been so many years. Let me buy you a drink at the bar up the street -- as a thank you. We can catch up properly."

Noah instinctively glanced at his watch. He wasn't sure he had the time.

The rival hideout Richard had mentioned was still over ten miles away.

If he didn't get there now, the Blood Skull gang would move the goods, and the whole thing would have to wait until tomorrow.

"Sorry, Vivian. I've got somewhere I need to be." Noah turned her down without hesitating.

A flash of disappointment crossed Vivian's face, but she nodded and let it go. "It's fine, go do what you need to do. I really don't know how to thank you for today."

Noah looked at her thin shoulders and thought it through for a moment.

He was the one who had started the fight. These bottom-level thugs had taken a serious beating, and they wouldn't dare come after him -- but they might very well take it out on Vivian instead.

He had picked this fight. He couldn't just leave her to deal with the fallout on her own.

Noah pulled a notepad from his pocket, scribbled down a number, tore out the page, and handed it to her.

"This is my personal number." He looked her straight in the eye. "Those guys might come back. If they show up again, or if you run into any trouble you can't handle, call me. Anytime."

Vivian took the slip of paper, and a quiet sense of safety settled over her.

She started to say something else, but Noah had already turned and walked out of the alley.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter