Chapter 3 - Shadows in the Boardroom
While Chalice guarded her secrets in the subterranean hideout, miles away in downtown Chicago, the upper echelons of the Holmes syndicate were in total disarray.
The penthouse office of Holmes Global Enterprises overlooked a glittering, rain-slicked skyline. Inside, Marcus Vance, the syndicate’s longtime chief counsel and consigliere, paced back and forth across the imported Persian rug. His tailored Italian suit couldn't hide the nervous sweat beading on his forehead.
Sitting behind a massive mahogany desk was Viktor Vance, Marcus’s older brother and the head of security for the entire enterprise. Viktor was built like a tank, with cold gray eyes and a scar running from his ear down into his collar.
“Gabriel is moving too fast,” Viktor muttered, pouring himself a finger of neat scotch. “He’s tearing apart every safehouse from the North Side to Cicero looking for that nurse and the kid. If he finds them, everything we’ve built—every asset we’ve laundered into legitimate real estate—is going to be tied to an internal blood feud.”
Marcus stopped pacing and turned to his brother. “You think Gabriel cares about the real estate right now? Antonio was his brother. And more importantly, Antonio’s infant son is the sole legal heir to the primary trust. If that baby lives, Gabriel controls the voting shares until he comes of age. If that baby dies... the entire empire gets carved up by the board, and you and I become irrelevant employees instead of partners.”
“Then we make sure Gabriel never brings them back alive,” Viktor said flatly, his hand resting on the holster beneath his arm. “The detective we sent to the hospital failed because the nurse slipped out through the laundry room. But we know her profile now. We know her face. It’s only a matter of time before our men trace her burner phone signals.”
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Marcus frowned, tapping a gold pen against the mahogany surface. “Be careful, Viktor. Gabriel isn't like Antonio. He doesn't just manage the books; he built the enforcement wing. If he catches a whiff that we had anything to do with the original ambush on the expressway... he won’t just exile us. He’ll dismantle our families brick by brick.”
“He has to find them first,” Viktor replied with a cold, humorless grin. “And right now, out in the freezing Illinois winter, a woman with a newborn baby doesn’t have many places left to hide.”
