Chapter 3 - The Unmasking of the EmpireBy midnight, the master suite of my primary estate in Lake Forest was bathed in warm, amber light.
Dr. Evelyn Vance—our family's private physician for twenty years—had finished her initial medical examination. She had set IV fluids to replenish Audrey's severe dehydration, treated the cuts along her arms, and administered a mild sedative to help her sleep.
Audrey lay inside a plush, king-sized bed wrapped in cashmere blankets, her hand locked securely in mine even in her sleep.
Standing near the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the dark gardens was Leo, holding a series of encrypted leather binders.
I gently loosened Audrey's grip, tucked her arm beneath the blanket, and stepped out onto the balcony with Leo, closing the glass doors behind us.
"Report," I commanded softly, taking a cigar from my pocket.
"Miss Audrey is stable, Boss," Leo reported quietly. "Dr. Vance says her long-term prognosis is good, though she suffers from severe physical exhaustion, malnutrition, and two cracked ribs. It will take months of physical and psychological recovery."
I lit the cigar, the tip glowing red in the dark night air. "And the Thorne family?"
Leo pulled open the first binder. "Richard Thorne's judicial committee appointment was revoked forty minutes ago following an anonymous disclosure of his offshore accounts in Switzerland. His secondary real estate trust has been frozen by federal auditors."
"And the son?" I asked.
"Deputy Chief Marcus Thorne attempted to mobilize two precinct squads to intercept our convoy," Leo smiled coldly. "The State Police Internal Affairs Division arrested him at his station twenty minutes ago for obstruction of justice, extortion, and systemic evidence tampering. His career is finished."
"That leaves Julian," I noted deadpan.
"Julian is sitting in our lower holding facility at the docks," Leo replied. "He thinks his father's lawyers are going to post bail by morning."
I looked out over the quiet trees of my estate, taking a slow puff from my cigar.
"Julian Thorne spent eight months believing he owned my daughter's life because he possessed a family name and a few corrupt connections," I spoke, my voice carried softly over the wind. "He thought I was an ordinary man who could be pushed into a corner."
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I turned my gray eyes onto Leo.
"Bring the master financial ledgers for the Thorne Logistics Corporation," I ordered. "It's time to show Julian Thorne what a real empire looks like."
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