Empire of Shadows

Chapter 3: If It Shouldn't Die, It’s Not a Vampire

Blocking the bakery door with his bulky frame, the fat officer turned and glared at the boss with a vicious glint in his eyes.

Sometimes, the police in the City of Angels were even worse than gangsters, looking less like the good guys and more like something much darker.

Facing an unspoken but terrifying threat, or the option of losing two hundred dollars, the boss chose to give up the cash to protect himself.

This bakery made about four hundred dollars a month. After covering regular expenses, there was roughly three hundred and fifty left.

Every month, the boss paid fifty in “sanitation fees” to the gang and about sixty-five to the police. Recently, the gang raised their cut to sixty.

So, after everything, his profit was only around two hundred and twenty-five. Once he accounted for his and his daughter’s wages, the net profit was barely a hundred dollars.

For most working-class people, this might still be a substantial sum, but for a business owner, it was nothing to boast about.

But at least it was still profitable.