Chapter 9 - The Reckoning
The high-frequency noise echoed through the room.
Several syndicate members winced, clutching their ears at the painful screech.
Julian stood behind his chair, a manic, triumphant grin on his face, waiting for the blind monster to tear his uncle apart.
Argos didn't move.
The dog stood calmly at Maeve’s side. Maeve had spent the last twenty-four hours rewiring Argos’s auditory response using specialized frequency-canceling ear plugs designed for military working dogs, paired with intensive positive scent reinforcement.
To Argos, Julian’s transmitter sounded like nothing more than faint wind.
"What... what did you do?" Julian stammered, his confidence evaporating.
"I cured him," Maeve said, stepping forward, her voice echoing with absolute authority. "Just like I cured the evidence of what you did to him."
Maeve pulled a tablet from her bag and pressed play. High-definition security footage played across the large projector screens in the ballroom—footage Dante’s men had recovered from the secret lab where Julian had kept Argos.
The screens showed Julian clearly, standing beside a trainer, ordering the chemical blinding of the dog and discussing his plan to use Argos as an untraceable assassin to murder Dante.
The ballroom erupted into chaos.
Syndicate leaders stood up, shouting in disgust. Even in the underworld, torturing an animal to murder one’s own family was considered an unforgivable act of cowardice.
"He’s lying! It’s a setup!" Julian screamed, drawing a hidden pistol from his jacket and pointing it straight at Dante.
CRACK!
Before Julian could pull the trigger, Argos—sensing the sudden surge of adrenaline and threat in the air—leaped across the mahogany table with terrifying speed.
Even without his sight, his incredible sense of smell locked onto Julian’s scent.
The ninety-pound dog slammed into Julian, knocking the gun from his hand and pinning him to the floor. Argos let out a deafening roar, his jaws resting fractions of an inch from Julian’s exposed neck.
Julian screamed in terror, weeping on the marble floor. "Don't let him kill me! Dante! Please!"
Dante walked slowly over to where Julian lay pinned beneath the giant dog. He looked down at his nephew with cold pity.
"Argos isn't a monster, Julian," Dante said softly. "He’s better than you."
Dante looked at Maeve and gave a small nod.
"Argos, heel," Maeve commanded gently.
The giant dog immediately backed off, returning to Maeve’s side and sitting down calmly, resting his head against her knee.
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Dante looked around the room at the syndicate leaders. "Julian Caruso is hereby stripped of his name, his assets, and his place in this family. He will spend the rest of his life in a federal maximum-security facility for federal conspiracy and attempted murder. Does anyone object?"
Silence filled the room. Not a single man raised his voice.
