2025-07-03 13:09:11The van pulled up in front of a run-down warehouse with a faded sign: “47th Street Storage.”
Lena walked in first, her two guys checking the dark corners. Inside, the place smelled like oil and rust. Metal crates were piled everywhere. A man stood waiting—gray-haired and scarred face. Elias recognized the voice from the call.
“You’re late, Kane,” the man said, tossing him a cheap phone. “Name’s Silas. The job’s simple. Tonight, you steal a data drive from Victor Dray’s tech company.”
Elias frowned and held the phone tighter. “Why me? What does this have to do with my past?”
Silas gave a crooked smile and leaned against a crate. “Your mom wasn’t just some regular woman. She worked with the Syndicate—cleaned up their dirty work. That scar on your arm? It’s not just a scar. It’s a tattoo, and it holds her secrets.”
Elias’s chest tightened. His mom, involved in crime? He touched the scar, suddenly seeing it in a new light.
Lena stepped closer, her leather jacket rustling. “Your mom hid memories in that tattoo. Only you can bring them out.”
She threw a knife, fast. Elias caught it without thinking, his reflex surprising even her crew. A sudden image flashed in his mind. He heard his mom’s voice, whispering a string of numbers. His heartbeat quickened.
Silas pointed to an old, rusty safe in the corner. “Go ahead, try it,” he said.
Elias knelt down, still holding the knife. In his mind, he heard his mom’s voice: three, eight, twelve. He turned the dial carefully. The lock clicked. He opened the safe. Inside were Syndicate files—papers filled with deals, names, and even links to Dray’s company.
Lena gave a low whistle. “You’ve got the touch, Kane.”
Just then, Elias’s phone buzzed. Mara’s name flashed on the screen. He picked up, his jaw tight. “What?”
Her voice was cold. “Say sorry to Trent, or I’ll ruin you in court.”
Elias’s hand clenched around the phone. “He broke my mom’s ring. Your family lies.”
“You’re bitter,” Mara shot back. “Apologize or this ends badly for you.”
Elias shook his head. “You can’t see the truth, Mara.”
He ended the call.
Lena handed him a hacking device, small and black. “Dray’s office is downtown. Steal the drive, and you’ll find out more about your mom.”
Elias nodded. His scar tingled again. Maybe he wasn’t just a janitor after all—maybe he had some of her skills too. But Dray’s building would be a challenge—there were cameras, guards, and plenty of ways to get caught. He stuffed the device into his pocket.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Mara sat in a fancy office with Carla. Trent and Vivian were still at the hospital, complaining about Elias.
“He’s vioent,” Carla said, eyes on her phone.
Mara stayed quiet, replaying Elias’s words: “Your family lies.”
She shook it off and turned her attention back to the tech summit.
Victor Dray’s deal meant everything to her.
Elias snuck into Dray’s tall glass building, packed with guards and cameras. Lena’s voice came through his earpiece, “Third floor, east office, be quick.” Her device blocked the cameras. He slipped past a guard with his heart racing.
In his mind, his mom’s voice whispered, walk soft my son, stay low. He moved quietly, like he’d done it before.
At the office door, a keypad glowed. His scar burned, and a memory flashed—six, two, nine. He typed it in. The door clicked open. Inside, he spotted the silver drive in a drawer and grabbed it. Suddenly, boots echoed nearby. Elias dove under the desk, holding still. The guard walked past.
Back at the safehouse, Elias handed Silas the drive. Lena plugged it in, files flashed on a laptop, in it was Syndicate plans, Dray’s deals, a note about a “marked heir.” Elias’s scar tingled.
“That’s you,” Lena said. “Your mom marked you to carry on.” Elias’s chest tightened. He wasn’t nobody.
Mara’s office phone rang. Carla picked up, then turned to her, looking shaken. “Elias broke into Dray’s company,” she said quietly. Mara’s eyes widened. Elias? Stealing?
Back at the warehouse, Silas clapped Elias on the back. “You did good. Your mom would be proud.” Elias stared at the screen, quietly observing the names and deals all blurring together. His mom had been deep in the Syndicate—and now, he was part of it too. The lies, the threats, the deals and power. He was finally starting to understand who he really was.
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Chapter Fifty Two
Elias sat still in the dim light of the war room, the glow of monitors flickering against his face. The threat had come through a scrambled voice message—no face, no location, just a calm, clipped sentence:“You’ve crossed the line, Elias. Now I erase you.”No mistake who it was.Roarke had stopped pretending.Around him, Lena and Marcus were already moving, locking down communications, encrypting internal systems, and initiating new security protocols across KaneTech’s core operations.“We need to assume everything’s compromised,” Lena said. “Personal phones, cloud drives, even our secure satellites. Roarke’s escalation means one thing: he’s ready to burn everything, even himself, just to bury us.”Elias stood, dragging a hand through his hair. “Then we let him try. But we stay ten moves ahead.”Marcus leaned over the central console, pulling up new data streams. “We’ve got protestors outside the Capitol Building this morning. Union workers, teachers, hospital staff — the blackout tu
Chapter Fifty Two
The early morning after the blackout attempt. The kind that comes after a near-disaster — not quite peace, not quite relief. Just a city catching its breath.Elias stood on the rooftop of KaneTech Tower, wrapped in a black coat as the wind tugged at his sleeves. Below him, the streets buzzed faintly with signs of life returning: streetlights flickering back on, coffee vendors reopening their carts, distant sirens echoing as emergency crews finished cleanup.He exhaled slowly.They had survived the night.Behind him, the rooftop door creaked open. Lena stepped out, a tablet in one hand, a scarf looped tightly around her neck.“You should be resting,” she said, walking up beside him.Elias gave a small shake of his head. “Could say the same to you.”She smiled faintly, then held up the tablet. “Press coverage is mostly positive. People are calling KaneTech the reason the city didn’t fall into total darkness.”“That’s a start,” Elias said. “Any word from Mara?”“She’s resting. We’ve move
Chapter Fifty One
Elias stood by the wide window of his office, the cityscape sprawling before him like a living, breathing beast. The night air pressed against the glass, heavy with rain and the faint hum of distant sirens. The digital map projected softly onto the windowpane flickered with the pulse of ongoing battles: supply routes blinking, union meeting spots highlighted, and markers for known Roarke operations glowing ominously.Despite the data streaming in from every corner, the weight pressing on Elias’s chest was less about numbers and more about trust.He spun away from the window as Lena entered quietly, her eyes sharp despite the fatigue etched across her face. Marcus followed close behind, his usual confidence tempered by exhaustion.“We’ve got trouble,” Marcus said bluntly, dropping a folder on the desk.Lena unfolded the papers, revealing a series of intercepted messages. “Roarke’s not just trying to cut us off anymore. He’s going for our allies. These are communications between his peo
Chapter Fifty
Elias Kane pulled his coat tighter around him as he stepped onto the cracked concrete. He wasn’t here for show or speeches. This was where the real fight was happening—the men and women who kept the city’s economy moving, and now, the first line against Roarke’s latest assault.His boots echoed against the pavement as he walked toward a small group of dockworkers gathered near a rusty container. Curtis DeSoto, the union leader Marcus had leaned on, stood at the center, his face drawn but resolute.“Elias,” Curtis nodded, eyes scanning the crowd. “Word’s out you’re here. Some of the guys were skeptical. Thought you were just another suit.”Elias smiled, the weight of the weeks behind him making his voice steady but warm. “I’m no suit when it comes to this city. I’m here because what’s happening here matters—to all of us.”One of the younger workers, a woman with grease-streaked hands and sharp eyes, stepped forward. “We’re tired of threats and deals made behind our backs. We want to kn
Chapter Forty Nine
Elias sat alone at a long table, staring at a digital map glowing softly in front of him. It showed supply routes, delivery schedules, union meeting locations, and dozens of other small details that made or broke the company. But right now, it all felt like fragile threads in a storm.Marcus came in, holding two cups of coffee. He sat down opposite Elias and slid one cup over.“Any news?” Elias asked without looking up.Marcus shook his head. “Nothing from Mara. No signals. She’s gone dark, just like we feared.”Elias swallowed the bitterness rising in his throat. “If Roarke gets to her first, she’s lost for good.”Marcus ran a hand through his hair. “We can’t lose her. She’s the key to cracking his union grip.”Lena entered quietly, laptop open and fingers already flying across the keys. “I’ve been tracking chatter from the docks. Roarke’s men are scrambling, but they’re trying to spin this as KaneTech sabotage.”Elias’s eyes narrowed. “Classic move. Blame us for what he’s doing.”“W
Chapter Forty Eight
The leaked footage from the gala didn’t just spread through Chicago’s news cycle, it lit the city on fire. By morning, the story was everywhere: front pages, talk shows, late-night radio. Even people who didn’t know KaneTech from a hole in the ground were suddenly using the name Roarke like a curse word.Inside KaneTech Tower, the war room buzzed like a hornet’s nest. Lena’s laptop speakers streamed a roundtable from a local station. Four pundits argued at once, all circling the same question: What happens now?Marcus stood at the coffee machine, arms folded, listening. He cracked a grin when one of the talking heads said Elias Kane with something like respect in his voice.He looked over at Lena. “So, we poked the king and the court’s turning.”Lena, who hadn’t slept in thirty hours, didn’t look up from her screen. “Don’t get cocky. Roarke’s never backed off a fight in his life. He’ll do worse than poke back.”She glanced at Elias, who stood by the window again, phone at his ear, voic
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