Chapter 7: The Strip Mall Savior
333 words
The camera in the ceiling was the final straw. Elena didn't pack. She grabbed her purse and ran, convinced Thorne’s eyes were on her back. She took three different buses, doubling back twice, until she reached the crumbling strip mall on the edge of town.
Kendra Mosley, Attorney at Law. The sign was missing the 'L' and the 'W'. The office smelled of stale cigarettes and cheap coffee. Kendra sat behind a metal desk, buried under mountains of paper. She looked like she hadn't slept in a decade, her messy bun held together by a pencil.
"I don't do charity cases," Kendra grunted without looking up. "And I don't sue Marcus Thorne. That man is a shark, and I'm swimming in a kiddie pool."
"Please," Elena whispered, unwinding her scarf. "He’s watching me. He’s ruining me."
Kendra finally looked up. Her tired eyes narrowed as she took in the bandages and the necrotic scarring visible at the edges. "Honey, you need a priest, not a personal injury attorney. Fighting him is suicide."
"I have nothing left to lose," Elena said, her voice breaking. She pulled the bandage down fully, exposing the raw, jagged stitching pattern left by the initial botched surgery and the hasty ER debridement.
Kendra froze. Her coffee cup hovered halfway to her mouth. She stood up slowly, her chair scraping against the linoleum. She walked around the desk, her eyes locked on Elena’s jaw.
"Turn your head," Kendra commanded, her voice no longer slurred with fatigue but sharp as a razor.
Elena obeyed. Kendra traced the air near the scar with a trembling finger. "That cross-stitch... the way he tied off the knot under the ear lobe to hide the tension..."
Kendra’s face went pale, then red with a terrifying rage. "He did this to my sister," she whispered. "Six years ago. Same stitch. She didn't make it."
She slammed her hand on the desk. "Sit down, Ms. Vance. We’re going to war."
End of Chapter 7
