Chapter 10 - The Fifth to Tenth Vanishings
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By nightfall, the city of Chicago was in a state of quiet, unspoken panic among the elite.
The news had not broken publicly yet, but in the private clubs and encrypted group chats of the one percent, the rumors were spreading like wildfire.
Between noon and 8:00 PM, five more people associated with the Caldwell Group simply ceased to exist.
Ryan's aggressive personal defense attorney, a man known for bullying victims into signing NDAs, stepped out of a restaurant for a smoke and never returned to his table.
The head of PR for the Caldwell Group, who specialized in burying Ryan's scandals, got into a black town car she assumed was her Uber. The car vanished off the grid.
Three of Ryan's closest friends—wealthy heirs who had been at the gala and had actively cheered him on when he dragged Lily into the hallway—were taken directly from their luxury apartments. No forced entry. No blood. Just empty rooms and ringing cell phones.
In the penthouse, Gabriel sat at his massive mahogany desk, reviewing the tactical reports pouring in from his lieutenants.
Lily sat on the leather sofa nearby, reading the live updates on a secure tablet Gabriel had given her. She felt a strange, chilling detachment. These were people who had facilitated her abuse, people who had laughed at her terror. Now, they were ghosts.
"You took his friends," Lily said quietly, looking up from the screen.
Gabriel didn't look up from his paperwork. "I took his enablers. Monsters do not survive without a support system to clean up their messes. I am isolating him. By tomorrow, Ryan Caldwell will realize that no one is coming to save him."
"His father will try," Lily pointed out.
As if on cue, Gabriel's private desk phone rang. It was a secure, unlisted number.
Gabriel answered it, putting it on speaker so Lily could hear.
"Thorne," a desperate, aging voice barked through the speaker. It was Richard Caldwell.
Gabriel leaned back in his leather chair, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his face. "Richard. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Call off your dogs, Gabriel," Richard demanded, though his voice was shaking with thinly veiled terror. "You've made your point. You took my people. Let's handle this like businessmen. Name your price."
May you like
Gabriel looked across the room at Lily. His dark eyes softened for a fraction of a second before hardening into absolute ice.
"I am not a businessman, Richard," Gabriel said softly into the speaker. "And this is not a negotiation."
