Chapter 9 - The Syndicate’s Reach
-9-
The interrogation didn't take place in a dark, damp basement or a hidden back room. It happened in the sterile, harshly lit conference room of Dominic’s downtown corporate headquarters high above the city skyline.
The man from the port—whose name turned out to be Marcus Vance, a mid-level logistics coordinator for an international criminal syndicate known only as The Vanguard—was slumped in a leather chair, his hands cuffed to the fixed armrests. A nasty purple bruise was beginning to form along his jawline where Dominic had intercepted his draw down at the docks.
Dominic stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the glittering grid of city lights stretching out below us. I stood a few feet away, holding a digital tablet where I transcribed every word of the interrogation, while two armed security operatives flanked the door.
“You’ve been using my shipping routes for three years,” Dominic said, his voice disturbingly calm as he turned slowly away from the window. “Moving contraband, weapons, and untraceable capital through my logistics network under Victor’s authorization.”
Vance swallowed hard, his eyes darting frantically between Dominic and the armed guards. “Victor assured us you were out of the picture. He said your hearing was gone permanently, that you were just a figurehead signing whatever documents he put in front of you.”
“Victor made a lot of assumptions,” Dominic replied, walking slowly toward the table. He rested his knuckles on the polished wood, leaning in close to Vance. “And now Victor is sitting in a federal supermax facility waiting for his trial. Which leaves you, Vance. And it leaves the people pulling your strings.”
Vance let out a bitter, nervous laugh. “You think locking up Victor solves anything? The Vanguard isn't just a local crew. We have logistics hubs in Geneva, Hong Kong, and Bogota. If you disrupt our supply lines here, you’re declaring war on people who have more money and more power than the government agencies protecting you.”
Dominic didn't flinch. His expression remained cold, impassive, carved out of stone. “Let me make one thing crystal clear to you, Vance. For three years, I sat in silence while scavengers picked at the edges of my empire. I let them think I was weak. I let them think I was blind and deaf to what was happening in my own house.”
He straightened up, his towering presence casting a long shadow across the table.
“Now I can hear every breath you take,” Dominic continued, his voice dropping an octave, carrying a terrifying, razor-sharp resonance. “And the next time someone from the Vanguard tries to move a single crate through my port without my authorization, I won't just intercept the shipment. I’ll burn your entire network to the ground, starting with whoever sits at the head of your council.”
Vance’s face turned pale. The bravado had completely evaporated, replaced by the crushing realization that he was dealing with a man who possessed both the means and the motive to execute his threats without hesitation.
“I... I don't know who the Grand Council leader is,” Vance stammered, his voice shaking. “We only ever communicated through encrypted data terminals and proxies. But... there’s a meeting scheduled in forty-eight hours. A summit at a private estate upstate. Victor was supposed to attend to deliver the final quarterly revenue transfer from your shipping terminals.”
Dominic narrowed his eyes. “Where?”
“Lake Geneva,” Vance whispered. “A private alpine lodge owned by a shell company under the Vanguard’s control. If Victor didn't show up, they were going to send someone to investigate his silence within the week.”
Dominic exchanged a brief, meaningful glance with me across the room. The puzzle pieces were falling into place. The conspiracy didn't end with Victor Strand; it went straight to the top of an international syndicate that operated in the shadows of the global economy.
“Lock him in the lower holding cells with the others,” Dominic ordered without breaking eye contact with Vance.
The guards stepped forward, unbolting Vance from the chair and hauling him out of the conference room before he could utter another word.
When the heavy oak door clicked shut, the room fell into a heavy, contemplative silence. I set the digital tablet down on the table, the weight of the new intelligence pressing down on my shoulders like a physical burden.
“Lake Geneva,” I said, breaking the quiet. “That’s over four hours north. If the Vanguard realizes Victor has been taken and their coordinator is missing, they’re going to lock down their entire network.”
“Which is why we don't wait for them to realize it,” Dominic replied, turning back toward the window as the city lights flickered below us. He walked over to the desk and picked up his encrypted satellite phone. “We go to the summit ourselves.”
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My breath caught in my throat. “You’re walking right into their stronghold? With an entire syndicate waiting for Victor?”
Dominic turned his head, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that brooked no argument. “We don't walk in as targets, Elena. We walk in as the Vanguard’s worst nightmare.”
