Chapter 19 - The Unraveling Mystery
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I stood up from the picnic table instantly, my military instincts taking over as a man in a dark charcoal suit stepped out of the sedan and walked through the front gate.
It was an older man with silver hair, sharp gray eyes, and a small gold pin clipped to his lapel—a crest bearing a raven clutching a broken key.
"Commander Carter," the silver-haired man said, stopping ten feet away. His voice was deep, cultured, and completely calm.
Sergeant Vance stepped up beside me, his hand resting near his sidearm. "Who are you?"
"My name is Director Vance," the man replied. "No relation to the Marcus Vance you locked up in Chicago, I assure you. I am the Director of Special Operations for the Defense Intelligence Agency."
"The DIA?" I frowned. "The case against my parents is closed. The Syndicate network was dismantled."
Director Vance let out a dry, knowing laugh.
"You dismantled the middle tier, Commander," he corrected softly. "Your father and mother were small-time players. They were puppets operating on the outer fringe of a much larger, global organization."
He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a heavy black leather file folder, extending it toward me.
"What is this?" I asked, taking the folder.
"That is your late grandfather's true file," Director Vance revealed. "Arthur Carter didn't die of natural causes six months ago, Madison. He went into deep cover."
My jaw tightened in shock. "What?!"
"Your grandfather built that fifty-million-dollar trust fund not to hide money from your parents," Director Vance whispered, leaning in closer. "He built it as a beacon—to draw out the real head of the Syndicate."
"Who is the head?" I demanded.
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Director Vance looked past me, looking directly at Ethan sitting at the picnic table.
"The man who controls the Syndicate is sitting in a compound in Geneva," Director Vance said grimly. "And twenty minutes ago, his team sent an encrypted satellite transmission directly to your grandfather's old receiver."
