“I don't care.”
“You should.”
“He's old.”
Cody shook his head.
“Old doesn't mean helpless.”
Trent's pride wouldn't let him accept that.
Instead, he made a decision.
They wouldn't challenge Agrippa directly.
They would frighten him.
They would show him that he couldn't control everything.
The first step was simple.
They found out where he worked.
The second was easier.
They learned when he picked up Larry from school.
But what Trent didn't understand was that Agrippa had spent years learning how dangerous patterns could be.
When a stranger's car appeared twice on the same street, Agrippa noticed.
When someone followed him from work, he noticed.
When a vehicle remained parked near Larry's school, he noticed.
He didn't panic.
He documented.
License plate.
Time.
Location.
Direction.
He contacted the police.
Then he called Marcus.
Marcus gave him one piece of advice.
“Don't play their game.”
Agrippa nodded.
“I won't.”
Two days later, Trent and his friends appeared outside Agrippa's workplace.
They didn't approach.
They simply stood across the street.
Agrippa saw them.
He called the police.
An officer arrived.
The men left.
No arrest was made.
But the message was clear.
They wanted Agrippa nervous.
They wanted him angry.
They wanted him to make the first mistake.
Agrippa refused.
Then something happened that changed everything.
Larry's school called.
“Mr. Fisher?”
“Yes.”
“This is the principal.”
Agrippa immediately became alert.
“Is Larry okay?”
“He's fine.”
“What happened?”
“There was an incident outside.”
Agrippa's stomach tightened.
“What kind of incident?”
“A man approached the school entrance asking about your son.”
Agrippa's voice became cold.
“What man?”
“We have camera footage.”
“Send it to the police.”
“We already did.”
Agrippa grabbed his keys.
“I'm coming.”
When he arrived, Larry was sitting safely inside the office.
The principal met Agrippa at the door.
“Your son is fine.”
Agrippa exhaled.
Then he saw the security footage.
Trent stood outside the school.
He never entered.
He never touched Larry.
But he had been there.
Agrippa watched silently.
The principal asked:
“Do you know him?”
“Yes.”
“Is he dangerous?”
Agrippa thought carefully.
“He wants me to think he is.”
The principal looked confused.
Agrippa continued.
“But that doesn't mean we should ignore him.”
The school increased security.
The police opened a report.
Agrippa documented everything.
For the first time in years, he realized something important.
He wasn't fighting five men.
He was fighting the idea that intimidation gave them power.
And the best way to defeat that idea wasn't violence.
It was patience.
Evidence.
Discipline.
The same qualities that had once made him a champion.
That night, Agrippa tucked Larry into bed.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Are those bad men coming back?”
Agrippa sat beside him.
“I don't know.”
Larry looked frightened.
Agrippa held his hand.
“But I promise you something.”
“What?”
“I will always protect you.”
Larry nodded.
“Even if you're scared?”
Agrippa smiled.
“Especially then.”
The case changed when one of the five men broke ranks.
His name was Evan.
Unlike Trent, Evan had never wanted the confrontation to become serious.
He had followed because he was afraid of looking weak in front of his friends.
But watching Trent approach Larry's school had crossed a line.
Evan contacted the police.
Then he contacted Agrippa.
Agrippa agreed to meet him—but only in a public place.
Evan arrived nervous.
“I don't want trouble.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To tell you the truth.”
Agrippa waited.
Evan pulled out his phone.
“I have messages.”
He showed Agrippa the conversation.
Trent had planned everything.
The park confrontation.
The search for Agrippa's identity.
The surveillance.
The school visit.
There were dozens of messages.
Agrippa read them.
Then he looked up.
“Why show me?”
“Because this went too far.”
Agrippa nodded.
“You're right.”