Chapter 4 - The Exposure of the Syndicate
The lobby of the Grand Regency was a scene of controlled chaos when Julian’s suburban pulled up.
Blue and red lights strobed against the wet asphalt, reflecting off the shattered glass of the hotel’s front entrance. A fleet of black tactical vans marked POLICE had blockaded the street, their sirens wailing into the night.
Julian stepped out of the vehicle, his face an unreadable mask as he walked past the police barriers. The officers at the perimeter tried to stop him, but Marcus stepped forward, showing a corporate credential that made them immediately back off.
Inside the lobby, the Deputy Superintendent was already commanding the scene. A dozen officers from the 12th Precinct were lined up against the marble wall, their weapons stripped, their hands cuffed behind their backs.
Among them was Frank Miller.
His expensive suit was torn, his face smeared with soot from the basement utility room where he had been cornered by the tactical team. When he saw Julian walk into the lobby, his eyes flared with a psychotic fury.
"You think you won, Thorne?" Frank shouted, struggling against the grip of the two Internal Affairs officers holding him. "You’re dirty too! Your company signed those papers! You took the land! You’re going down with us!"
Julian stopped in front of him. He looked down at the disgraced officer with a cold, piercing gaze that seemed to cut right through Frank’s bravado.
"I signed papers based on falsified documents provided by your corporate handlers," Julian said, his voice echoing in the grand lobby. "I’ve already turned over the original soil reports, the bank records, and the decryption keys to the FBI. The federal prosecutor is preparing indictments as we speak. You aren't going to a state prison, Frank. You're going to a federal penitentiary where your friends in the department can't protect you."
Frank’s jaw trembled. The arrogance that had sustained him for years finally crumbled, leaving behind only the hollow, pathetic shell of a bully who had run out of ground.
"And Richard Vance?" Frank whispered.
Julian pulled his phone from his pocket, showing the screen to Frank.
Across the top of a major financial news app, a breaking headline read:
Vance Development Stock Plummets 80% Amid Federal Fraud Investigation; CEO Arrested at O'Hare Airport.
"He tried to board a private flight to Miami twenty minutes ago," Julian said softly. "The FBI was waiting for him at the gate."
Julian turned away, leaving Frank to be dragged out into the rain. He walked over to the Deputy Superintendent, offering a brief, professional nod.
"Thank you for the quick response, Superintendent," Julian said.
"We owe you the thanks, Mr. Thorne," the officer replied. "This cancer has been in the 12th Precinct for far too long. But what about the families? The ones who were forced out of their homes?"
May you like
Julian looked at the shattered glass of the entrance, his mind drifting back to his own childhood, to the small apartment his mother had fought so hard to keep.
"We are going to make it right," Julian said. "Every single one of them."
