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another day alone is more than i can take.

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Anger was useless in that moment, he had already learned this lesson a thousand times from himself, from his brothers and sisters. Perhaps the only mistake had been not teaching this to his own son. Whoever had taken Lucas didn't just want a hostage, they wanted leverage. And leverage only worked if he gave them time.

He spread the city map on the table. He knew their kind; bold enough to touch what didn't belong to them, cowardly enough to believe they could hide from someone like him. The photograph before him showed Lucas, his face pale, his wrists marked by ropes. Hoshi clenched his jaw. They thought he was going to negotiate. Nonsense. Hoshi had never been the talkative type.

He stood up unhurriedly, straightening his jacket with the calm of a man preparing for a business meeting. The difference was that this meeting wouldn't end with the signing of a contract, but with bloodshed.

The location of the warehouse was engraved in his mind. On the way, he noticed the boy trying to hide the trembling in his hands. What bothered Hoshi wasn't that, but the firmness in his eyes. No matter how much Hoshi had told him to stay outside, Yvan wouldn't back down.

The iron door creaked as Hoshi pushed it open. He didn't draw his gun right away. He walked with the calm of a predator who already knows the scent of his prey, even though this was surely a trap set for him. His eyes took in the details of the footprints in the dust, the cigarette butts in a corner, the fallen bottle still damp. They were close.

Yvan took a step forward, but Hoshi's firm hand caught his arm. He turned the corner and there it was, a heavy steel door. He didn't need to open it to know. Lucas was there. He felt his own son's presence. He placed his hand on the rusty doorknob. He looked at his nephew one last time, knowing those words would haunt the boy far more than any vision behind the door.

"Remember well what you're about to see. This is the price of your stubbornness."

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