Chapter 4 - The Internal Rat
By Wednesday morning, Adrian’s intelligence network had dismantled half of downtown Los Angeles looking for the leak.
Frank brought the results into the makeshift command center Adrian had set up in the hospital’s executive suite. I sat across the room, watching through the glass as Ethan slept peacefully in the next suite over, unaware of the war being waged outside his door.
"It wasn't an external rival, Boss," Frank reported, slamming a thick manila folder onto the mahogany table. "It was Marcus Vance."
Adrian’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. Marcus Vance was his chief of financial operations—a man who had managed the syndicate’s offshore accounts for over a decade and whom Adrian had trusted like a brother.
"Vance?" Adrian asked quietly. "He has everything under my banner. Why flip?"
"Vance didn't just want money," Frank explained, sliding a series of financial wire transcripts across the desk. "He’s been working with a federal task force and a rival syndicate out of Chicago to execute a hostile takeover of our port terminals. He needed to destabilize your personal life, force an emergency succession crisis, and eliminate your bloodline so the board would have no choice but to name him interim CEO."
Adrian didn't yell. He didn't smash a glass or throw a punch. He simply closed the folder, stood up, and buttoned his suit jacket.
"Where is Vance now?" Adrian asked.
"He called an emergency board meeting at our downtown headquarters for noon," Frank replied. "He thinks you're trapped at the hospital with a sick kid and won't make it to the financial district in time to stop the asset freeze."
Adrian looked across the room at me. "Lock down this floor. Do not let anyone in or out. I'm going to go handle some family business."
"I'm coming with you," I said, standing up.
May you like
Adrian paused at the door, looking at me with surprise. "Clara, it’s going to get bloody."
"He tried to kill my son," I said, my voice dead steady. "I am coming with you."
