Chapter One The Bar

"Yes. But you need to believe discipline is worth more than fists." They did not rob the supervisor. At dawn they intercepted a truck full of port equipment marked as scrap and being sold privately. Ethan photographed the evidence. Marcus helped the driver understand the price of silence. The next day the supervisor paid Marcus everything owed, added triple for discretion, and handed Ethan ten thousand dollars. It was Ethan's first real stake. He paid the most urgent debt, bought a patrolman's indifference, and rented a damp basement. On its wall he pinned four sheets of paper: ledger, fear, reputation, exits. "Street crews understand fear," Ethan told Marcus. "The Morettis understand ledgers. We need to understand exits.