Chapter 29 - The Gathering Storm
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That night, after the boys were asleep and the house was cloaked in silence, I crept out of bed. Mara was sleeping soundly, the gentle rise and fall of her breathing a stark contrast to the storm raging inside my head.
I went to my private office and locked the door. I pulled out my encrypted laptop and a secure satellite uplink.
I couldn't just hand the Orion file to the FBI. Richard owned senators, judges, and likely federal agents. If I triggered an official investigation, Richard would find out before the ink was dry on the warrant. He would eliminate the evidence, and then he would eliminate me.
I had to play a longer, much more dangerous game.
I began meticulously copying the files from the silver briefcase onto dozens of encrypted micro-drives. I was going to seed the information globally. Independent journalists, international watchdogs, and rival corporate entities. I would orchestrate a slow, agonizing death by a thousand cuts for Vance Industries, completely untraceable back to me.
As the files transferred, my phone buzzed on the desk.
It was a text message from an unknown number.
I saw what you found under the floorboards, Julian.
My blood turned to ice. I stared at the glowing screen.
Another message popped up a second later.
Did you really think Victor was the only one who kept a dead man's switch?
I grabbed the phone, my thumbs flying across the keyboard. Who is this?
The reply was instantaneous.
Someone who wants to see Richard Vance burn just as much as you do. Meet me at the old shipyard tomorrow at midnight. Come alone.
I deleted the messages and scrubbed the phone's memory.
May you like
The ghost of Victor was dead, but the syndicate he built was a hydra. You cut off one head, and another takes its place in the shadows. I had thought my past was finally buried, but the truth was far more terrifying. My past wasn't chasing me anymore—it had moved into my house, and it was sitting at the head of my dinner table.
I closed the laptop and walked to the window, looking out at the dark, sprawling grounds of the estate. The perimeter was secure. The gates were locked. But the real threat was already inside the walls.
