Chapter 5 - Blood and Business
Removing my mother was only the first step.
The real threat was the Ashford family.
By noon, the financial markets were in chaos. Marcus Ashford had begun pulling his investments from my dummy corporations, trying to bleed me dry.
More importantly, he had put a bounty on Mave's head.
Three million dollars for the woman who ruined his daughter's wedding.
I set up my command center in my downtown penthouse. Wesley stood by the monitors, tracking every move the Ashfords made.
"They're hitting our warehouses in Brooklyn," Wesley reported. "Setting fires. Trying to draw our men out."
"Let them burn," I ordered. "Buildings can be rebuilt. Keep all our muscle focused on the perimeter of the Catskills safe house."
Suddenly, my private line rang.
It was an encrypted number.
I picked it up. "Garrett."
"You made a fool of me," Coraline's voice hissed through the speaker. "In front of the whole city."
"You made a fool of yourself, Coraline. You thought you could build a marriage on a foundation of threats and child endangerment."
"That child is an illegitimate mistake!"
"Say one more word about my daughter," I said, my voice lethal, "and I will personally ensure your father's empire is reduced to ashes."
Coraline let out a dark, mocking laugh.
"You think you've won because you put your mommy in jail? My father has five hundred armed men tearing the state apart looking for your little family."
"Then he better look harder."
"Oh, we don't have to," Coraline purred. "We already found a vulnerability."
My stomach dropped.
"What did you do?"
"Check the news, Garrett."
The line went dead.
I grabbed the remote and turned on the wall-mounted television.
Breaking news flashed across the screen.
Mave's younger sister, Sarah, had been kidnapped from her college campus in Boston.
A cold sweat broke out on my neck.
They couldn't find Mave, so they went after the only other family she had left.
"Wesley," I shouted, already reaching for my coat and my sidearm.
May you like
"Sir?"
"Assemble the strike team. We're going to war."
