Chapter 7 - BROTHERS AND BLOOD
The revelation hung over the clubhouse like a thundercloud.
Thomas sat back against the sofa, his face completely pale as if he had been struck. "Julian... my own blood... we haven't spoken in ten years, ever since our father passed away and left the ridge land to me because Julian wanted to sell it off to foreign developers. But I never thought... I never thought he’d try to kill me."
Boone stared into the crackling fire, the memory of his own past surging back with bitter force.
"Family disputes over land and money make monsters out of men who lose their way," Boone said softly. "Ten years ago, my younger brother Caleb and I fought over our father’s repair shop. We said terrible things. I walked away, thinking time would fix it. Three years later, I got a call from a county hospital—Caleb died in a highway accident before I ever got the chance to say I was sorry or make things right."
Boone looked at Thomas, his eyes dark with ancient regret.
"I spent years carrying that silence, Thomas," Boone continued. "It’s a weight that never leaves your shoulders. But Julian isn't just distant—he’s crossed a line that turns a brother into an enemy. He used his wealth to buy law enforcement, hire mercenaries, and put a child in danger."
"What do we do now?" Thomas asked, clutching Lily tightly. "He has legal teams, millions of dollars, and political connections in Raleigh. If he finds out I’m still alive and that Sheriff Croft backed down, he’ll use state judges to seize the land under emergency mineral reserve acts."
"He won't get the chance," Jax said, pulling up a tablet connected to the clubhouse’s encrypted network. "While you two were getting stitched up, I ran a deep forensic trace on Appalachian Timber’s financial holdings."
"What did you find, Jax?" Bear asked.
"Julian Vance didn't just build an empire," Jax explained, turning the tablet screen toward Boone. "He built a massive Ponzi scheme funded by illegal offshore land speculation. He promised his European investors guaranteed access to North Carolina mineral reserves he didn't actually own yet—specifically, Thomas’s land. His whole company is thirty days away from complete financial default if he doesn't secure title to Blackwood Ridge."
Boone’s lips curled into a cold, lethal smile. "He’s desperate. He staked his entire empire on stealing his brother’s land."
"Desperate men make mistakes," Bear noted.
"And we’re going to give him the chance to make his biggest one," Boone declared, standing up. "Jax, contact Eleanor Vance—the high-profile corporate investigator and legal advocate out of Charlotte who helped dismantle the Voss Holdings corruption case last year. Tell her we have a corporate fraud case that needs her immediate attention."
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"You think she’ll take it?" Doc asked.
"When she hears there’s a child involved who was hunted in the woods?" Boone replied. "She’ll be here by noon."
