LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 20: Chapter 20 – The Storm Before the War
Blood soaked the warehouse floor. Gabriel "The Butcher" lay lifeless, his body twisted unnaturally.
Ochieng stood over the corpse, silent.
He didn't gloat. Didn't celebrate.
This was just another step.
A necessary move in a much bigger game.
Outside, the city still buzzed with life, oblivious to the war brewing beneath its surface.
But the underworld?
It was shaking.
The news of Gabriel's death would spread like wildfire.
Nathan Wanjala would not let this go unanswered.
Ochieng knew the retaliation was coming.
The question wasn't if.
It was when.
And who they would send next.
---
Somewhere in a penthouse overlooking the city, Nathan Wanjala sat in silence.
A crystal glass of whiskey rested in his hand, untouched.
Before him, a line of men stood, their faces unreadable.
At his feet, an old rotary phone sat on the floor, its receiver hanging loosely off the hook.
Gabriel was dead.
He had just received the news.
His grip tightened around the glass.
Crack.
The glass shattered.
The men in the room stiffened.
Nathan inhaled deeply, running a hand through his neatly styled hair.
"Who did it?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Ochieng."
The name settled in the air like a storm cloud.
Nathan's lips curled into a slow, humorless smile.
"Then let's show him what happens when you challenge the Wanjala Family."
He turned to his men.
"Bring me the Black Fang."
---
In the darkest corners of the underworld, whispers of Black Fang struck fear into even the most hardened criminals.
An assassin with no allegiance.
No mercy.
No failures.
Nathan Wanjala knew that sending regular killers after Ochieng would be a waste.
He needed a nightmare to hunt the ghost.
Black Fang was that nightmare.
And soon, Ochieng would come to understand—
Some predators don't just hunt. They consume.
---
Ochieng didn't go home that night.
He stood on the rooftop of an abandoned building, staring at the skyline.
His phone buzzed.
Tasha.
A name from the past.
He hesitated before answering.
"Ochieng…" Her voice was soft, uncertain.
"You heard."
"Everyone has."
A pause.
"You just declared war."
Ochieng closed his eyes.
"War was already here. I just stopped pretending otherwise."
Another pause.
"You need to leave."
Ochieng opened his eyes, watching the city lights flicker.
"I can't."
Tasha sighed. "Then be ready. Because they won't just send an assassin this time."
Ochieng already knew that.
But what he didn't know—
Was just how deep this war would go.
And how much he would lose before it was over.
---