Chapter 4 - The Spider’s WebDownstairs in the estate’s subterranean command center, blue light from a dozen high-resolution monitors cast long, eerie shadows across the metal consoles.
Grant Mercer stood before the main display, his hands resting flat on the steel desk. On the central screen, a digital wireframe map of Chicago pulsed with red and amber warning beacons.
"Status on the Vance faction?" Grant asked without turning around.
A younger technician with a shaved head tapped rapidly on his keyboard. "Cleaned out, Chief. The safehouse on the north side was raided by our strike team twenty minutes ago. Three arrests, two neutralized. The nephew—Leo Vance—tried to make a run for the docks, but our maritime unit intercepted his launch."
"And the leak?" Grant’s voice dropped an octave. "How did they know Mrs. Cole was visiting the tower today?"
The technician hesitated, his fingers pausing over the keys. "We traced the metadata from the initial tip sent to the Vance cell. It didn't come from an external hack."
Grant turned his head slowly. "Speak."
"The query log shows a manual export of Mrs. Cole’s medical appointments and hotel check-ins pulled directly from our internal encrypted database," the tech said, bringing up a glowing red prompt on the side monitor. "Authorized by level-four clearance credentials."
Grant stared at the screen. Level-four clearance was held by only three people in the entire organization: Adrian Cole, Grant Mercer himself, and...
"Marcus Vance bought someone inside my own executive circle," Grant murmured, his eyes narrowing into cold slits.
The heavy steel door of the command center swung open.
Adrian walked in. He had removed his suit jacket, rolling up his crisp white sleeves to his forearms. The raw, terrifying fury that had driven him through the streets of Chicago was still visible in the sharp angles of his jaw, but it had morphed into something colder, more disciplined.
"Report," Adrian said, stepping up beside Grant.
"We cleared the external threat," Grant said immediately. "Leo Vance’s cell has been dismantled. But there’s a complication."
Adrian’s eyes narrowed. "What complication?"
Grant gestured to the monitor, bringing up the access logs. "The attack today wasn't a random ambush. Someone inside our inner circle sold Maya’s location to the Vance family. They knew her exact schedule—every doctor's appointment, every hotel lobby she stayed in for the past three months."
The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
Adrian stared at the glowing log files. His chest rose and fell in slow, measured breaths.
"Who?" Adrian asked. His voice was barely a whisper, but every man in the room stopped what they were doing.
"Only three people have level-four clearance to pull that data," Grant said steadily, meeting Adrian's gaze. "You. Me. And Elena Vance."
Adrian went completely still. "Dr. Vance? She’s been with us for twelve years."
"She’s also Marcus Vance’s estranged sister," Grant said quietly, sliding a printed personnel file across the steel desk. "She changed her last name legally twenty years ago to distance herself from the family. But financial records show three wire transfers originating from a Cayman account controlled by Leo Vance hitting an offshore trust tied to her medical practice last week."
Adrian looked down at the paper. The betrayal didn't shock him—in his world, trust was a luxury traded on the black market every single day. What burned him was that her treason had nearly cost him his wife and his unborn child.
"Where is she now?" Adrian asked softly.
"She returned to the North Estate twenty minutes ago after clearing Mrs. Cole’s vitals," Grant replied. "She’s currently in the medical wing on the lower level."
Adrian turned on his heel without another word.
May you like
"Boss," Grant called out, his hand moving toward his holster. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No," Adrian said, his voice flat and final as he walked toward the heavy steel exit. "This one is mine."
