Chapter 27
"Trace the call," Bennett ordered, tossing the dead satellite phone across the desk to Marcus. "It bounced through a dozen offshore servers, sir," Marcus said, already plugging the device into a diagnostic tablet. "The encryption is military-grade. Whoever they are, they have resources that rival a sovereign nation." Bennett walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out over the sprawling city. The dazzling white lights of the skyline suddenly felt less like a conquered kingdom and more like a massive, vulnerable target. He had spent his entire adult life building Apex Holdings in the shadows to destroy his father's legacy, but he had never anticipated inheriting his father's darkest secrets. "Robert knew," Bennett murmured, the pieces finally falling into place. "The erratic behavior, the desperate leveraging, the absolute panic when the accounts were frozen. He wasn't just afraid of losing his money. He was terrified of them." "Should we bring Robert in for questioning?" Marcus suggested, his hand resting on his sidearm. "We can extract the identity of the syndicate from him." "No," Bennett shook his head, a cold, calculating darkness settling over his features. "Robert is a coward. He will leverage the syndicate's existence to beg for his lifestyle back. We find them ourselves." Bennett turned back to the room, his icy eyes locking onto Marcus. "Lock down the company. Prepare for war."
