Chapter 8 - The Syndicate Arrives
Spike didn't wait for anyone to respond to his terrifying announcement.
He and his two tattooed enforcers immediately sprinted toward the back door, desperate to escape.
They smashed the emergency release bar on the back door and disappeared into the night, abandoning their illegal servers entirely.
Daniel stood frozen in the hallway, his entire fraudulent empire crumbling around him in a matter of seconds.
Richard suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Daniel violently by the collar of his expensive shirt.
"You dragged me into a cartel debt, you worthless bastard!" Richard roared, spitting in Daniel's face.
"Dad, wait, I can explain!" Daniel pleaded, his voice cracking with pure terror.
"I am not your father!" Richard screamed, throwing Daniel backward into the hallway wall.
Richard didn't even look at me as he sprinted for the open front door, running away just like the coward he had always been.
Vanessa dropped the birth certificate on the floor, her chest heaving as full-blown panic set in.
"Daniel, what did you do?" she shrieked, backing away from her husband as if he were radioactive.
Daniel scrambled to his feet, rubbing his bruised shoulder and looking frantically toward the front door.
"I took a short-term loan from a syndicate to pay off my business debts," Daniel stammered, sweating profusely.
He pointed a shaking finger at the forged Cayman Islands deed still resting on the kitchen counter.
"I put this house up as collateral, but I swear I was going to pay them back after the Easter party!"
Ellen stepped forward, her judicial composure entirely replaced by cold, calculated fury.
"You leveraged your mother's home to a criminal syndicate, and now they are standing in her driveway."
Through the open front door, the crunch of heavy tires on gravel echoed ominously in the dark.
Three massive black SUVs parked aggressively on my front lawn, crushing Vanessa's pristine Easter lily decorations.
Six men in dark suits stepped out of the vehicles, walking toward the porch with terrifying, synchronized precision.
"We have to hide!" Vanessa cried, running toward the stairs, completely abandoning her husband.
I reached out and grabbed Vanessa's arm in an iron grip, stopping her in her tracks.
"You are not going anywhere, Vanessa."
I pulled her back into the kitchen and forced her to stand right next to Daniel.
"You wanted to play the lady of the manor so badly? Now you can greet your guests."
The men in suits stepped through the front door, their expensive shoes crunching on the hardwood floor.
The leader of the group was a tall, sharply dressed man with silver hair and a brutally calm demeanor.
He stopped in the foyer, looking around the dark house with mild amusement.
"Daniel, my friend," the silver-haired man said smoothly. "Why is your house so dark?"
Daniel was practically vibrating with fear, completely unable to form a coherent sentence.
"Mr. Vance, I... I have the deed, the house is yours," Daniel stuttered, pointing weakly at the counter.
Mr. Vance smiled, but it was a smile devoid of any human warmth.
"I don't want the house, Daniel, the real estate market is far too volatile."
He pulled a silenced pistol from his jacket and aimed it directly at Daniel's chest.
"You owe me four million dollars in cash, and you are going to open that safe right now."
Daniel fell to his knees, openly sobbing in front of his wife and mother.
"I don't have the cash, I spent it all to maintain the lifestyle!"
Mr. Vance sighed in disappointment, pulling the hammer back on the pistol.
"Then I suppose I will just take my collateral in blood."
I stepped out from the shadows of the kitchen, shining my lantern directly onto Mr. Vance's face.
"Put the gun away, Marcus, or you will be violating your parole."
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Mr. Vance froze, his eyes widening in absolute shock as he recognized me.
"Prosecutor Hawthorne?" he whispered, lowering the weapon slightly.
