Chapter 14 - The Heir's Ransom
The rain poured down in sheets, sizzling as it hit the burning roof of the warehouse behind Jack. The sirens of emergency services were wailing in the far distance, coming from the downtown sector, but here, in the industrial wasteland, there was only the sound of roaring fire and Liam’s ragged, terrified breathing.
"Jack... please..." Liam sobbed, dropping his radio onto the gravel. His knees gave out, and he slid down the side of the SUV, raising both hands in front of his face. "We’re brothers. The same blood. You can't shoot your own brother!"
Jack walked forward until the hot barrel of the carbine was pressed directly against the center of Liam’s forehead, right above his pleading eyes.
"We don't have the same blood, Liam," Jack said, his voice distorted and cold through the respirator. "You have Elena’s blood. The sister you tortured. The girl you tried to harvest like a crop."
Liam’s jaw trembled, tears washing clean streaks through the soot on his cheeks. "I didn't know... Mother told me she was just a nobody... she said the family bought her... Jack, I didn't want to die! Can you blame a man for wanting to live?"
"You wanted to live as a parasite," Jack said. He lowered the carbine slightly, reaching out with his free left hand and seizing Liam by the throat, hauling him up to his feet and shoving him face-first against the armored window of the SUV.
Jack reached into Liam’s coat pocket, pulling out his encrypted smartphone.
"Unlock it," Jack commanded.
"Why? What are you going to do?"
Jack pushed the barrel of the gun hard into Liam’s kidney—the very organ Liam had planned to steal from Elena. Liam screamed in agony.
"Unlock it, or I take that kidney right here on the asphalt," Jack growled into his ear.
With trembling, spastic fingers, Liam pressed his thumb to the sensor, unlocking the phone’s interface.
Jack navigated straight to the Vance Family Foundation's cloud storage—an automated archive of private contracts, offshore accounts, and encrypted medical records used to blackmail city officials and secure unlicensed surgical procedures. Jack transferred the entire directory—including the high-resolution photographs of Elena bound to the basement operating table, the audio recordings of Eleanor Vance ordering the falsification of death certificates, and the offshore payment logs to Dr. Mercer—directly to Marcus's encrypted server and fifty different federal investigative agencies simultaneously.
Liam watched the progress bar hit 100 percent, his face draining of whatever color Elena’s stolen blood had given him.
"You just destroyed the family," Liam whispered in horror. "The Vance empire... the estates, the banks... it’s all gone. They will seize every asset."
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"The Vance empire was built on a grave," Jack replied, stepping back. "Now you get to lie in it."
Before Liam could speak, the distant glare of police cruisers appeared at the entrance of the alleyway. Jack struck Liam across the jaw with the butt of the carbine, knocking him unconscious onto the wet pavement, and melted into the darkness of the riverbank just as the first sirens arrived.
