Chapter 7 - Shadows Across Vermont
The chaos in the ballroom dissolved into stunned silence as federal marshals, summoned by Marcus’s concurrent wire alerts, poured through the estate doors to back up the syndicate enforcers. Chief Miller was disarmed, handcuffed, and led out of the mansion in disgrace, his badge stripped from his uniform before the very socialites who had toasted him hours earlier.
Vivian was shaking with incandescent rage, her manicured fingers clawing at the air. "You think you've won?" she screamed, tears of frustration spilling down her powdered cheeks. "This is Vermont! My lawyers own this county! You cannot touch Sterling Capital! It's too big! It employs half the valley!"
I stepped closer to her, towering over her in the quiet grandeur of the foyer. When I spoke, my voice was so low, so chillingly devoid of human warmth, that even Paige whimpered behind her mother.
"Sterling Capital was built on smuggling routes established by your late husband in the late nineties," I said quietly, leaning down just enough for only her to hear. "Routes financed by the Crown. When I audit a company, Vivian, I don't just look at balance sheets. I look at graves. And your husband's grave is currently being exhumed under federal coroner's orders as we speak."
Vivian staggered backward, colliding with the banister. Her eyes widened in genuine, paralyzing terror. For the first time, she looked past the black wool coat, past the quiet demeanor, and saw the abyss staring back at her. She saw the Ghost King.
"Who... who are you?" she whispered, her voice trembling uncontrollably.
May you like
"Your accountant, Vivian," I replied softly, turning my back on her as I offered my arm to Claire. "Shall we go home, my love?"
As we walked out of Blackthorn House into the crisp Vermont afternoon, the snow seemed to glisten beneath a clearing sky. Behind us, federal agents sealed the perimeter, locking down every computer terminal, safe, and filing cabinet in the mansion. The empire Vivian had fought so viciously to control had dissolved in less than twelve hours.
