Chapter 12 - The Shadow at the Gate
That evening, the coastal fog rolled in thick and suffocating, wrapping the Bainbridge estate in a heavy, damp blanket.
Inside the warm, brightly lit kitchen, Aura was sitting at the island counter, happily decorating sugar cookies with colored sprinkles while the golden retriever puppy napped near her feet. Her laughter filled the room, chasing away the cold shadows that had begun to creep into Alexander’s mind.
Alexander stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the dark coastline through the glass. He held his phone tightly, dialing a private, encrypted number that hadn't been active in five years.
It rang twice before a deep, gravelly voice answered on the other end.
“Speak.”
“Julian,” Alexander said without preamble, his voice dropping into a low, serious register. “It’s Alexander Sterling. I need a favor from a man who used to run the underworld.”
On the other end of the line, there was a brief pause—the quiet calculation of a former Capo who didn't deal in casual favors. “Sterling. I heard you cleaned up your corporate mess. Why are you calling a ghost?”
“Because your old ghosts are haunting my front yard,” Alexander said flatly. “The Obsidian Syndicate just surfaced in Liechtenstein. They’re coming after my daughter’s trust, and they’re using the old European shipping protocols your syndicate used to run.”
A sharp, dangerous intake of breath hissed through the receiver. “The Syndicate was completely purged, Sterling. Anyone still using those protocols is running a rogue faction that even I cut ties with years ago.”
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“Well, they’re awake now,” Alexander replied, staring out at the dark ocean where the perimeter motion sensors had just blinked a warning amber. “And I need to know how to burn them out before they reach my home.”
“Pack your bags,” Julian Moretti’s voice came back cold, hard, and absolute. “Meet me in Chicago in forty-eight hours. We’re going hunting.”
