Chapter 11 - The Shadow of the Syndicate
The quiet coastal sanctuary of St. Jude’s Haven was supposed to be the place where memories of Blackwood Ridge came to die. For six months, the ocean breeze offered a gentle rhythm to our lives, helping Anna regain her laugh and giving Paige the space to finally exist as a normal teenager. But peace built on the ruins of a corrupt empire is rarely permanent.
It started with a silent financial transaction. The seized Higgins assets—the vast acreage, the lumber mill, and the commercial holdings—were scheduled to be auctioned off by the federal government to compensate victims and pay back taxes. Instead, a shell corporation known as Vanguard Apex bought every single deed in a cash transaction three minutes before the bidding opened.
That night, my secure phone rang. It was Colonel Cole.
May you like
"Mark, we have a problem," Cole said, his voice stripped of all warmth. "The money that bought out Ellis Higgins' estate didn't come from a local investor. It originated from an offshore bank in the Cayman Islands linked to Senator Raymond Vance—the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the frontrunner for governor."
My grip tightened around the phone as I looked out at the dark ocean waves. Ellis Higgins was never the king of the mountain. He was merely a regional lieutenant for someone much bigger, much more dangerous, and vastly more protected.
