Chapter 4 - The Betrayal Within
Rory stared at the glowing monitor in the dimly lit Red Hook office, his mind struggling to process the impossible reality unfolding before him.
Arthur Vance.
Arthur was a mild-mannered corporate attorney who handled minor real estate transactions and philanthropic foundations for the Starks family empire. He was the man who brought holiday casseroles to Thanksgiving, played catch with the twins in the courtyard, and offered soft, comforting words after Claire’s tragic death. He was family.
“Are you certain of the routing keys, Marcus?” Rory’s voice dropped to a terrifyingly quiet register, the kind of stillness that preceded absolute violence.
“Positive, Boss,” Marcus said, pulling up the metadata logs. “The IP addresses match the private server router installed in the guest house on your estate. Whoever set this up didn’t hack the perimeter from the outside. They had physical access to your internal network. They’ve been mapping your security rotations, camera blind spots, and electronic lockdown codes for months.”
Rory straightened up, a cold fury settling deep into his bones. All the puzzle pieces suddenly slammed into place with sickening clarity. The security system failures, the precise knowledge of his movements, the subtle manipulation of his household staff—it wasn’t an external syndicate waging a turf war.
It was an inside job orchestrated by someone sitting at his own dining table.
“Pack up the drives,” Rory commanded, turning toward the door. “We’re going home.”
“What about the Morosco gunmen?” Marcus asked, gesturing to the wounded men tied up on the floor.
“Leave them for the local precinct,” Rory spat over his shoulder. “I have bigger fish to fry.”
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As the Suburbans tore out of the Red Hook warehouse district and sped back toward Long Island, Rory checked his watch. It was 3:10 AM.
Right at that very moment, fifty miles away in the nursery on the estate, his little girls were likely waking up, screaming for a monster their father still couldn't fully see—while the real monsters walked freely through the halls of his own home.
