Chapter 4 - The Shadow Guards-4
Half an hour later, a heavy black armored SUV pulled up the winding gravel driveway of the Lake Forest cottage.
The driver’s door opened, and a tall, broad-shouldered man in a tactical jacket stepped out. He had a military posture, short dark hair silvered at the temples, and a sharp scar running along his left jawline.
It was Michael Vance—Daniel’s older, estranged brother.
Ten years ago, Michael had been the primary heir to Vance Development. But when he refused to participate in their father's corrupt political backroom deals, Daniel and his mother had framed Michael for corporate embezzlement, stripping him of his inheritance, ruining his reputation, and forcing him out of the family business.
Michael had spent the last decade building Aegis Tactical, a private high-level intelligence and security firm operating out of Europe.
He walked up the porch stairs, his boots thudding softly against the timber floorboards.
I opened the front door.
Michael stood there, looking at me with a complex mix of sorrow, admiration, and fierce resolve.
"Hello, Claire," he said, his voice deep and gravelly. "I saw the morning news. You burned his world down faster than I ever could."
"He murdered your father, Michael," I said flatly, pulling the door open wider. "And he poisoned mine."
Michael froze, his jaw tightening so hard the scar on his face turned stark white. He stepped inside, shutting the heavy door behind him.
"Are you certain?" Michael asked quietly, his eyes burning with a sudden, lethal intensity.
I handed him the digitized toxicology report and the purchase logs showing Daniel ordering digitalis derivatives through an offshore pharmaceutical vendor three months before my father's death.
Michael stared at the paper for a long, silent minute. When he looked up, his expression was no longer that of a protective brother-in-law. It was the face of a man who was ready to go to war.
"My father was a greedy man, Claire," Michael said softly. "But he was still my father. And your dad was the only honest man who ever tried to save this family from eating itself alive."
He pulled a tactical tablet from his coat and placed it on my dining table.
"Marcus Vale knows Daniel is useless now," Michael explained, bringing up a map of Chicago with glowing red tracking dots. "Vale’s team isn't trying to bail Daniel out to save him. They're going to pay off a guard at the Cook County Correctional Facility to orchestrate a 'heart failure' in Daniel's cell tonight before he can sign a grand jury testimony agreement."
"And Vanessa?" I asked.
"Vanessa is currently at the Private Jet Terminal at O'Hare," Michael revealed, zooming in on a tracking dot near the runway. "She has three passports, four million dollars in bearer bonds, and a flight cleared for Dubai in forty-five minutes."
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I looked at Michael, a cold smile forming at the edges of my lips.
"Then let's make sure she doesn't miss her boarding call," I said. "And let's give my husband a front-row seat to her departure."
