Chapter 5 - The War Room
By midnight, the basement level of the Highland Park estate had been transformed into an active tactical command center.
The holding room beneath the three-car underground garage was an air-gapped, soundproof vault originally built during the Cold War as a shelter. Sitting inside on two steel folding chairs were Arthur Voss and Dr. Samuel Mercer, guarded by two heavily armed security operators.
In the adjacent monitoring office, Dominic stood before a wall of twelve digital monitors displaying live security feeds from across Chicago: the South Side shipping yards, the interstate transport hubs, and the perimeter cameras surrounding Lorenzo Moretti’s primary estate in Lake Forest.
Vincent walked into the room, holding an encrypted tablet. "Boss, we pulled the full digital logs from Arthur’s private laptop and Mercer’s office drive."
"What did you find?" Dominic asked, keeping his eyes on the monitor displaying the Moretti compound.
"It’s deeper than we thought," Vincent said, tapping the tablet screen. "Arthur wasn't just planning to take over your seat on the council. He’s been leaking our shipping manifests to Moretti for four months. Three of our freight trucks that were 'hijacked' on Interstate 80 last month? Arthur gave Moretti the GPS tracking codes."
Dominic’s jaw tightened. "How much did we lose?"
"Fourteen million in high-value electronics and medical supplies," Vincent reported. "And it gets worse. Arthur opened a shadow line of credit using our construction company's assets as collateral. He borrowed sixty million from an offshore syndicate in Dubai. The debt matures in forty-eight hours."
Dominic turned around slowly. "He was going to sign the transfer papers tonight, take control of the family trust, default on the loan, and let the offshore group foreclose on our real estate holdings while he fled to Switzerland with Moretti’s cash payout."
"Exactly," Vincent agreed grimly. "If that little girl hadn't noticed the retaining plate tonight... you would have signed those papers by midnight, thinking you were preserving the company while you recovered. By Friday, the Vale Organization would have been bankrupt, and Moretti would have owned the docks."
Dominic walked over to the wall map of Chicago. He picked up a red marker, drawing a sharp circle around the Lake Forest territory owned by the Moretti family.
"Arthur thought I was a dying tiger," Dominic said softly. "He thought he could carve up my territory while I was lying in a hospital bed."
"What are your orders, boss?" Vincent asked, his hand resting on his sidearm. "Do we call a emergency meeting with the other Chicago families? Show them the evidence of Moretti’s breach of the truce?"
"No," Dominic said flatly. "If we go to the Commission, they’ll spend three weeks arguing over borders while Moretti consolidates his positions. We handle this tonight."
"Just our crew?"
"Just our crew," Dominic confirmed. "Vincent, get Marcone and the other four captains out of the library."
Two minutes later, Frank Marcone and the four captains were brought down to the monitoring room. They looked pale and exhausted, their eyes darting nervously toward Dominic.
Dominic didn't offer them chairs. He stood before them, towering and imposing, his physical presence completely restored.
"Frank," Dominic said.
"Yeah, Dominic?" Marcone swallowed hard.
"Arthur compromised three of your shipping routes in South Chicago. He gave your truck schedules to Lorenzo Moretti."
Marcone’s face went from pale to violent red. "What?! Those were my boys driving those trucks! Jimmy Russo took a bullet in the arm during that hijack in Gary!"
"I know," Dominic said calmly. "Arthur sold you out. All of you. He was going to let Moretti take the docks while he ran off with sixty million in offshore cash."
Marcone spat on the concrete floor. "That bastard. Dominic... I swear on my mother’s grave, I had no idea. We thought Arthur was acting in your best interest because of the medical reports!"
"I know you didn't know, Frank," Dominic said smoothly. "If I thought you were part of the treason, you wouldn't be standing in this room right now. You’d be sitting in the vault next to Arthur."
The five captains let out a collective, ragged breath of relief.
"So what do we do?" Marcone asked, his fists clenching.
"We take back what’s ours," Dominic commanded. "Frank, take your crew and secure the South Chicago yards. I want every Moretti scout cleared out of those docks by 2:00 AM. If they resist, use full force."
"Consider it done," Marcone growled.
"What about Lorenzo Moretti?" another captain asked.
Dominic looked at the security feed showing the Lake Forest compound. "Lorenzo thinks he’s meeting Arthur at 3:00 AM at the private airfield in Waukegan to collect his share of the dock deeds. I’m going to go to that meeting instead."
Vincent stepped forward instantly. "Boss, let me take the tactical squad to Waukegan. You’re still recovering—"
"My leg is fine, Vincent," Dominic cut him off, his voice absolute. "Lorenzo needs to see me standing on my own two feet. He needs to know that the man he tried to cripple is the man who is going to end him."
Dominic turned back to the wall map. "Vincent, prepare the armored motorcade. And have Marco keep four guards on the third floor. If a single soul touches the floor where Clare and Ellie are sleeping, I’ll personally tear this city apart."
"Understood, sir," Vincent said.
May you like
Dominic walked out of the command room, his steps ringing clear and hard against the concrete floor.
The limp was gone forever.
