Chapter 6 - The Power VacuumThe thing about removing a kingpin from a corrupted ecosystem is that the ecosystem doesn't simply heal. It bleeds. And then, the scavengers arrive.
In the three weeks following the total erasure of Richard Vance, the local news cycle had been whipped into a frenzy. Officially, Richard had "fled the country amid a sweeping federal probe." The public narrative was perfectly orchestrated by Echo-Actual’s superiors. It kept the local authorities completely in the dark and the public satisfied with a standard tale of white-collar crime.
Chief Miller had resigned in disgrace two days after the raid, officially citing "health reasons" before federal indictments quietly froze his pension. The politicians Richard had bought suddenly scrambled, donating their campaign contributions to charity in a desperate, sweating panic to scrub the stench of his money from their records.
But Richard’s world had dark edges—edges that extended far beyond corrupt zoning commissioners and greedy suburban cops.
In a dimly lit, high-end cigar lounge in downtown Chicago, a man named Silas Thorne read the newspaper headline detailing the seizure of Richard's corporate assets. Silas did not care about domestic violence. He didn't care about justice.
Silas cared about forty million dollars.
As the primary liaison for a brutal overseas syndicate that used Richard’s real estate developments to wash dirty money, Silas was suddenly staring at a massive, gaping hole in his ledger.
"Fled the country," Silas muttered, tossing the newspaper onto the mahogany table. He took a slow drag from his maduro cigar. "Richard Vance doesn't have the spine to flee the country. He’s too in love with his own reflection."
Across the table, a heavyset enforcer named Griggs shifted uncomfortably. "The feds gutted his entire estate, boss. Tore it down to the foundation. We had millions in off-book cash hidden in the drywall of that mansion. It’s all gone."
Silas exhaled a thick cloud of blue smoke. "The feds don't operate like that, Griggs. They bag and tag. They don't bring in demolition crews for a white-collar raid. Someone else hit him. Someone who wanted to make a point."
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"So, what's the play?"
Silas tapped his cigar over a crystal ashtray. "Find out who liquidated his legitimate assets. Trace the money. Whoever holds the keys to his estate knows what happened to our cash. And when you find them, bring me their fingers."
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