Chapter 4: The Syndicate of Silk
Present Time. The Ballroom.
The smoke finally cleared in the grand ballroom. Evelyn Vance stood up, brushing a dusting of pulverized plaster from her powder-blue suit. She looked around at the devastation. The elite members of her syndicate—politicians, offshore bankers, black-market brokers—were bleeding, groaning, or fleeing.
"Sarah," Evelyn barked, her voice cutting through the moans of the injured.
The woman in the burgundy velvet dress stepped out from behind the ruined, bullet-riddled wedding cake. Her flawless face was marred by a streak of soot, and her eyes burned with barely contained rage.
"He took the primary," the Impostor said, holstering her silver weapon.
"I have eyes, Victoria," Evelyn snapped, using the woman's real name. She stepped forward and delivered a vicious, open-handed slap across Victoria's face. The younger woman’s head snapped to the side, but she didn't utter a sound.
"You were supposed to have the child disposed of weeks ago," Evelyn hissed. "Arthur's genetic lock on the patent mainframe requires familial DNA. We needed the girl alive just long enough to extract the marrow, and you let a burned-out ex-spook walk right through our front door and take our only key."
Victoria wiped a bead of blood from her lip. "Jack is highly trained, Evelyn. We underestimated his attachment to his brother."
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"I don't pay you to underestimate," Evelyn said coldly. She turned to her head of security, a hulking brute named Silas who was currently pulling a shard of chandelier crystal from his shoulder.
"Silas. Activate the tracker. I want that child back alive. As for Jack... bring me his head in a box."
