Chapter 5: A New Vocation

The sun was setting behind the city skyline as Leo pulled into his apartment complex parking lot, the Lexus purring like a contented cat. For the first time in six months, he wasn't calculating how many shifts he'd need to cover his car payment. There was no car payment. The sleek sedan was his, free and clear, along with enough cash compensation to rebuild his shattered finances.

He sat in the driver's seat for a long moment, running his hands over the leather steering wheel that still smelled faintly of expensive conditioner. The premium sound system played soft jazz at the touch of a button, and the navigation screen displayed more features than his old Honda had possessed in its entire existence.

How is this real?

Six hours ago, he'd been drowning. Now he felt like he could breathe again. More than breathe—for the first time since walking into Sterling Automotive, he felt like he had a future that didn't involve crushing debt and sleepless nights calculating interest payments.

Leo pulled out his phone and dialed his mother's number, his hands shaking slightly as the call connected.

"Mijo? How did it go with that man you mentioned?"

"Mama," Leo said, his voice thick with emotion, "you're not going to believe this, but... it's over. The car payment, the debt, all of it. It's gone."

The silence on the other end stretched for several heartbeats before his mother's voice came back, tight with disbelief. "What do you mean, gone?"

Leo found himself laughing, the sound echoing strangely in the luxury vehicle's interior. "The man I told you about, Alex? He proved they committed fraud. Not just against me, but against dozens of other customers. They had to give me a better car, completely paid off, plus cash to cover what I'd already lost."

"Dios mío," his mother whispered. "This Alex... he is an angel, no?"

Leo thought about Alex's predatory smile, the strange light that flickered behind his eyes, the way he'd systematically dismantled Sterling's operation with surgical precision. An angel wasn't quite the word he'd use.

"Something like that, Mama. Something like that."

After ending the call, Leo sat in the gathering darkness for a few more minutes, watching his neighbors come and go from their modest apartments. Most of them were working multiple jobs just like he had been, struggling to make ends meet in an economy that seemed designed to crush people like them.

How many of them had been victims of the same kind of predatory practices that had nearly destroyed him? How many were drowning in debt they'd been tricked into accepting, too intimidated or ignorant to fight back?

The thought followed him upstairs to his small apartment, where he stood in the kitchenette making instant ramen—a habit that would take time to break even with his improved finances. As he waited for the water to boil, his phone buzzed with a text message from an unknown number.

Leo - if you know anyone else who's been screwed by a dealership, send them my way. What we did today was just the beginning. - A.T.

Leo stared at the message, a strange warmth spreading through his chest. Alex wasn't just some mercenary who'd taken on his case for money. He was building something, creating a network to fight back against the predators who fed on working-class desperation.

The water came to a boil, but Leo found himself thinking about Brad, one of his coworkers at McDonald's, who'd been complaining about a car payment that was eating up three-quarters of his paycheck. And Maria from the evening shift, who'd mentioned being pressured into some kind of extended warranty that cost more than her rent.

How many people could Alex help if they knew he existed?

---

Twenty miles across the city, Alex Thorne stood in his immaculately organized home office, three monitors displaying streams of data that would have looked like digital hieroglyphics to anyone else. Financial records, contract databases, customer complaints filed with various regulatory agencies—all of it flowing together to paint a picture of systematic predation that extended far beyond Sterling Automotive.

The [Auditor System] interface flickered in his peripheral vision, displaying the day's results with mechanical satisfaction:

[Justice Served: Contract Fraud Resolved] [Reputation +10] [Network Expansion: +1 Contact] [Financial Recovery: $45,200 (Client Benefit)] [Target Neutralized: Sterling Automotive Flagged for Federal Review]

But it was the final notification that made Alex's lips curve in that predatory smile:

[New Case Available: Priority Level - High]

His phone buzzed almost simultaneously, as if the System had orchestrated the timing. The caller ID showed a number he didn't recognize, but the area code was local.

"Alex Thorne," he answered, his voice carrying that same professional authority that had reduced GM Sterling to a quivering mess.

"Mr. Thorne?" The voice was female, middle-aged, with the kind of desperate edge Alex had learned to recognize immediately. "My name is Patricia Hernandez. I... I heard you help people with... dealership problems."

Alex settled into his desk chair, the System interface automatically pulling up databases and cross-referencing the name with local records. Within seconds, he had Patricia Hernandez's credit history, employment records, and recent financial transactions displayed across his monitors.

"I help people who've been victims of automotive fraud," Alex confirmed. "What's your situation, Mrs. Hernandez?"

"It's my daughter, Sofia. She's twenty-two, just graduated from college, got her first real job." Patricia's voice cracked slightly. "She needed a car to get to work, and they... God, Mr. Thorne, I think they destroyed her life before it even started."

The System was already pulling up Sofia Hernandez's records. Recent graduate, entry-level marketing position, excellent credit score until three months ago when she'd purchased a vehicle from... Alex's eyes narrowed as the data populated.

Pinnacle Motors. Another dealership in the Sterling network.

"Tell me what happened," Alex said, his voice taking on that mechanical precision that meant someone was about to have a very bad day.

"The payment is eighteen hundred dollars a month," Patricia whispered. "Eighteen hundred! For a used sedan that barely runs. Sofia can't afford it, but when she tried to return it, they said the contract was binding. They're threatening to repossess it and sue her for the remaining balance."

Alex's eyes flickered with data streams as the System analyzed Sofia's contract in real-time, cross-referencing it with known fraud patterns and regulatory violations. The results made his jaw tighten with cold anger.

Eighteen separate violations. Fraudulent trade-in valuation. Undisclosed fees. Predatory lending practices. The contract was a masterpiece of financial predation designed to trap a young woman at the very beginning of her career.

"Mrs. Hernandez," Alex said quietly, "where did your daughter purchase this vehicle?"

"Pinnacle Motors, over on Highway 6. The salesman said she was getting a great deal because she was a recent graduate, that they had special programs for—"

"For young professionals who don't know any better," Alex finished. The System was already mapping connections between Pinnacle and Sterling, revealing a network of dealerships using identical fraudulent practices. "Mrs. Hernandez, I want you to have Sofia gather all her paperwork—the original contract, any communications with the dealership, payment records, everything. Can you meet me tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, of course! But Mr. Thorne... Sofia doesn't have much money. We can't afford expensive legal fees."

Alex's smile was sharp as winter steel. "Don't worry about fees, Mrs. Hernandez. By the time I'm done with Pinnacle Motors, they'll be paying us."

After ending the call, Alex leaned back in his chair and studied the network of connections the System had mapped across his monitors. Sterling Automotive hadn't been an isolated case—it was part of a larger operation, a coordinated network of dealerships systematically defrauding customers across the metropolitan area.

The System interface pulsed with new data:

[Network Identified: Pinnacle Automotive Group] [Estimated Victims: 2,847] [Total Fraudulent Revenue: $23.4 Million] [Recommended Action: Systematic Dismantling]

Alex stood and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city, his reflection ghostlike against the backdrop of twinkling lights. Somewhere out there, thousands of people were drowning in debt they'd been tricked into accepting, their dreams crushed by predators who saw them as nothing more than profit margins.

But now they had an advocate. Someone with the knowledge, the tools, and the absolute ruthlessness necessary to fight back.

His phone buzzed with another notification from the System:

[Mission Parameters Updated] [Primary Objective: Consumer Protection Network] [Secondary Objective: Corporate Accountability] [Warning: Opposition Will Escalate]

Alex's reflection smiled back at him from the window, cold and predatory. Let them escalate. The bigger they were, the more satisfying their fall would be.

Patricia Hernandez had called looking for help with her daughter's car problem. What she'd actually done was give Alex the key to dismantling an entire network of automotive predators.

Tomorrow, Pinnacle Motors would learn the same lesson Sterling had learned today: that some prey fought back, and the cost of their greed was about to come due with interest.

The Auditor's work was never done, but Alex Thorne wouldn't have it any other way.

In the distance, the city hummed with the quiet desperation of people trapped in contracts they couldn't escape and debt they couldn't afford. But change was coming, one fraudulent dealership at a time.

Justice, Alex had learned, was a system that could be optimized. And he was very good at optimization.