Chapter 7 - The Cleansing of the Shadow Syndicate
The rain over northern New Jersey had turned into a blinding sleet storm as four armored black Suburbans crested the perimeter ridge of Teterboro Airport.
Inside Hangar 4, Marcus Vance—a fifty-five-year-old billionaire sociopath dressed in a bespoke cashmere overcoat—was supervising the loading of four heavy titanium flight trunks into the cargo bay of his private Gulfstream G650.
"Hurry up, you idiots!" Marcus shouted at his flight crew. "The New York servers went dark an hour ago! If Romano survived that bridge, his hit teams will be across the river before midnight!"
The massive steel hangar doors were blown off their tracks by a synchronized hydraulic breach.
Four armored tactical vehicles roared into the hangar, tires screaming against the polished epoxy floor, forming an impenetrable semicircle around the jet.
Twenty federal marshals and tactical operatives from House Romano swept through the breach, their suppressed carbines held at the high ready, laser sights painting Marcus Vance’s chest with six red dots.
Marcus froze, his designer leather travel bag slipping from his hands, clattering loudly against the concrete.
Alessandro Romano strode down the center aisle of the hangar.
He wore an impeccably tailored charcoal three-piece suit beneath his heavy black overcoat, his presence commanding immediate, suffocating terror across the entire hangar.
Walking on his right flank was Special Agent Raymond Callahan; to his left stood Frank Callahan, carrying four heavy steel cases stamped with the gold seal of the United States District Court.
Marcus Vance backed against the landing gear of his jet, his face pale as wet chalk, his hands shaking violently. "Romano...! This... this is private federal aviation property! You have no jurisdiction here!"
Frank Callahan stepped forward, slamming the certified federal arrest warrants onto the wing support of the aircraft.
"Under emergency judicial orders executed by Chief District Judge Evelyn Montgomery at 10:00 PM," Frank announced, "Marcus Vance and the entire executive board of Vance Global Maritime are under federal indictment for Attempted Premeditated Assassination, Interstate Terrorism, Arms Trafficking, and Racketeering under the RICO Act."
Alessandro walked slowly until he stood two feet from where Marcus stood hyperventilating.
"You sent a mole into my house, Marcus," Alessandro whispered, his baritone dropping into sub-zero granite. "You tried to bleed my car on an open highway. And you thought a private jet to Switzerland would save you from the Wolf."
Alessandro reached out, his powerful hand clamping over Marcus’s silk collar, lifting the billionaire onto his tiptoes with effortless, crushing power.
"Your empire is burned to the ground, Marcus," Alessandro said softly. "And your name is erased from this continent forever."
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Alessandro released his grip, letting Marcus collapse onto the floor at the feet of the federal marshals, who clicked heavy steel transport chains around his wrists and ankles.
As the screaming, sniveling predator was dragged away in chains, Alessandro turned his back on the hangar, walking out into the crisp, clean night to return to his family.
