Chapter 11 - DISMANTLING THE EMPIRE|
By 3:30 A.M., the rain had turned into a torrential downpour over the private gated estates of Lake Forest.
A high-walled limestone mansion sat at the end of a long asphalt driveway, surrounded by security cameras and armed guards.
Inside the master study, Dominic Thorne—a ruthless sixty-year-old crime syndicate boss— sat behind an antique desk, checking his watch while smoking a cigar.
"Why hasn't Julian checked in?" Thorne grumbled to his chief enforcer standing by the window.
"His phone is dead, Boss," the enforcer replied. "We should move to the marina now."
Before Thorne could answer, the mansion's main iron gates were breached.
CRASH!
A heavy armored SUV slammed through the wrought-iron gates at fifty miles an hour, smashing into the security booth.
Before the estate guards could react, smoke grenades shattered the front windows of the mansion, spewing thick white chemical clouds into the foyer. Gunfire echoed across the manicured lawns.
Thorne jumped out of his leather chair, reaching for a weapon inside his desk drawer.
The heavy mahogany doors of his study were kicked wide open.
Adrian Vale stepped through the smoke, holding a suppressed sidearm. Behind him lay Thorne's four armed guards, disarmed and unconscious on the marble floor.
Thorne froze, his hand hovering over his open drawer. "Vale? You're supposed to be at the hospital weeping over your dead wife."
"She isn't dead," Adrian said, stepping closer, his weapon raised with unwavering precision. "But your empire is."
Adrian tossed a heavy tablet onto Thorne's desk. The screen displayed a live federal broadcast: Federal agents were currently raiding Thorne's docks in Detroit, seizing dozens of shipping containers based on the encrypted ledgers Elena had turned over to Prosecutor Vance Sterling.
Thorne stared at the screen, his face aging ten years in ten seconds. "That bitch... she leaked the master accounts?"
Adrian didn't hesitate. He pulled the trigger once.
PHFFT!
The round struck the mahogany desk an inch from Thorne's hand, sending wood splinters flying into his face. Thorne shrieked, dropping to the floor with his hands over his head.
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"You call her 'Mrs. Vale'," Adrian commanded softly, stepping over the desk. "And you will spend the rest of your natural life in a maximum-security federal facility thinking about her name."
Sirens echoed down the long driveway as dozens of federal vehicles pulled onto the estate grounds.
