CHAPTER 5 – THE FIRST THREAT
CHAPTER 5 – THE FIRST THREAT
The encrypted email arrived at 6:17 a.m.
Marcus Reed's computer emitted a soft notification.
Normally, unknown messages were deleted before reaching the internal security network.
This one hadn't.
That alone was enough to make the veteran security chief uneasy.
He opened it inside an isolated system.
There was no signature.
No return address.
Only a single sentence.
WE FOUND THE WOMAN AND CHILD.
Attached beneath it was a photograph.
Marcus's expression hardened.
The picture had been taken less than an hour earlier.
Marissa stood outside her apartment building bundled in a worn gray coat while Caleb adjusted his backpack before school.
Someone had been watching them.
Very closely.
Marcus didn't hesitate.
He picked up the secure phone.
"Mr. Park."
Joon answered on the second ring.
"What happened?"
"We have a problem."
Ten minutes later Marcus was in the penthouse office.
The printed photograph lay between them.
Joon stared at it without speaking.
His fingers slowly tightened against the armrest of his wheelchair.
"When was this taken?"
"This morning."
"How do you know?"
"The bakery receipt in her hand."
Marcus pointed to the timestamp enlarged from a nearby security camera.
"She left the building at 6:02."
The anonymous photo was taken at 6:05.
Three minutes later.
Someone had been close enough to capture Caleb smiling.
Close enough to know exactly where they lived.
Joon's face became unreadable.
The warmth from the previous evening vanished.
In its place returned the calm expression that had once terrified organized crime bosses across three states.
"Who knows about them?"
Marcus answered immediately.
"You."
"Myself."
"Mrs. Cho."
"A handful of kitchen employees."
"And whoever sent this."
Joon looked toward the skyline.
"They aren't after Marissa."
"No."
"They're after me."
Marcus nodded.
"They know exactly where to apply pressure."
Across town...
Marissa hurried Caleb toward the neighborhood elementary school.
Snow crunched beneath their boots.
The morning wind carried the smell of fresh coffee and city buses.
Caleb happily swung his backpack.
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think Mr. Joon ate the rest of the cupcake?"
She laughed.
"I hope so."
"I should've made him pancakes."
"You don't know how to make pancakes."
"I would've figured it out."
"You nearly burned cereal last week."
"I was experimenting."
She smiled.
Life finally felt...
Normal.
She had no idea a black sedan sat quietly across the street.
Inside, a man wearing sunglasses lowered his camera.
"Target confirmed."
He spoke into a small radio.
"The child has entered the school."
A voice answered.
"Do not engage."
"Continue observation only."
Back at Park Meridian Group headquarters...
Mrs. Cho entered Joon's office carrying breakfast.
He hadn't touched the coffee she'd brought earlier.
The photograph still lay on the desk.
She looked from Marcus to Joon.
"What happened?"
Neither man answered immediately.
Finally Marcus slid the picture toward her.
She covered her mouth.
"Oh my God..."
Joon spoke quietly.
"This is why I don't let people get close."
Mrs. Cho looked at him sharply.
"No."
"They've already become targets."
"They became targets because evil people made that choice."
He shook his head.
"They walked into my life for less than thirty minutes."
"And now this."
Mrs. Cho stepped closer.
"I knew your mother."
Joon looked up.
"She would be ashamed if you blamed yourself for another person's cruelty."
Silence.
She continued.
"Kindness isn't responsible for evil."
"Evil is."
Marcus cleared his throat.
"I've already started tracing the email."
"Results?"
"It bounced through servers in seven countries."
"Professionals."
"Yes."
Joon nodded once.
"I want discreet protection."
Marcus expected that.
"Visible?"
"No."
"I don't want Marissa frightened."
"What about the child?"
"Especially the child."
Marcus immediately began issuing orders.
Two female security specialists were assigned near Marissa's apartment disguised as utility workers.
A retired police officer began monitoring Caleb's route to school.
Another team quietly reviewed every surveillance camera surrounding their neighborhood.
No one would know they were there.
That was exactly how Joon wanted it.
At noon...
Richard Hawthorne received a call.
"They've increased surveillance."
He smiled faintly.
"Of course they have."
"Our email worked."
"It wasn't meant as a threat."
The assistant looked confused.
"No?"
Richard stood before the window overlooking downtown Chicago.
"It was a test."
"To see what?"
"Whether Joon Park still cared."
He turned slowly.
"And now we have our answer."
That afternoon, Caleb's second-grade teacher called Marissa into the classroom after dismissal.
"Mrs. Cole?"
"Is something wrong?"
"No."
The teacher smiled.
"I simply wanted you to know Caleb wrote something during today's creative writing assignment."
She handed over a sheet of lined paper.
Across the top, in oversized second-grade handwriting, were the words:
My New Friend
Marissa smiled as she read.
My new friend is named Joon.
He had a birthday.
Nobody came.
So I gave him my cupcake.
Mom says money can't fix lonely.
I think hugs help too.
I hope he isn't lonely anymore.
By the time she reached the last sentence, her vision had blurred.
The teacher laughed softly.
"He talks about Mr. Joon all day."
Marissa folded the paper carefully.
"I'll keep this forever."
Neither woman noticed the unfamiliar man watching through the school fence before quietly walking away.
That evening...
Joon sat alone in the penthouse library.
The city lights shimmered beyond the glass.
For years he had accepted one unbreakable rule.
Never let anyone become important.
Everyone important became vulnerable.
Then Marissa and Caleb had appeared.
Without asking.
Without expecting anything.
Without even realizing they had walked straight into the most dangerous chapter of his life.
He reached into his jacket pocket.
The silver lighter his mother once carried rested in his palm.
He whispered into the empty room,
"I won't let history repeat itself."
At that exact moment...
Marcus burst through the library doors without knocking.
His face was pale.
"We've identified the man behind the surveillance photo."
Joon looked up immediately.
"Who is it?"
Marcus placed another file on the table.
Inside was a photograph of a gray-haired businessman shaking hands with governors, senators, and judges.
At the bottom of the page was a single name.
RICHARD HAWTHORNE.
Joon's eyes narrowed.
"I thought he retired."
Marcus answered grimly.
"So did everyone else."
Then he turned the page.
Joon's expression changed completely.
Because clipped to the next page...
Was an old newspaper photograph taken twenty years earlier.
Standing behind Richard Hawthorne—
Barely visible in the crowd—
Was Joon's own father, Victor Park.
May you like
And written across the margin in red ink were six handwritten words:
"The debt is finally due."
