Chapter 3 - The Thorne Empire Strikes Back
"You think you've won, Vale?" Arthur Thorne spat, staring up at Elias with eyes full of hatred. "I own half the judges in this state! My family built this county! You breached my home, assaulted my son, and kidnapped my daughter-in-law! You'll spend the rest of your miserable old life in a federal prison!"
Elias walked slowly down the marble steps until he stood inches from Arthur's face.
"You haven't checked your phone in the last ten minutes, have you, Arthur?" Elias asked quietly.
Arthur frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Elias signaled to his operative, who pulled a tablet from his vest and held it in front of Arthur’s face. On the screen was a live feed of financial transactions, legal filings, and international news tickers.
"At 21:00 hours tonight," Elias began, "a master file containing thirty years of Thorne Industries' off-shore tax evasion, illegal human trafficking offshore, and bribery payments to federal judges was released to the Department of Justice, the IRS, and the press."
Arthur’s face drained of all color. "That... that's impossible. Those files are on a air-gapped server..."
"Nothing is air-gapped from my cyber warfare division," Elias replied coldly. "By tomorrow morning, every bank account bearing the Thorne name will be frozen. Your assets are seized. Your political friends? They are currently turning off their phones and scrubbing their schedules of your existence."
"You... you destroyed us..." Miriam whispered, clutching her chest as if she couldn't breathe.
"No," Elias corrected her. "You destroyed yourselves the second you decided my daughter was an object to be beaten into submission. I am simply delivering the receipt."
Suddenly, the sound of approaching police sirens echoed through the valley. Three local police cruisers sped through the broken iron gates, lights flashing red and blue.
Chief Vance, a man long known to be in Arthur Thorne's pocket, stepped out of the lead cruiser with his sidearm drawn. "Hands where I can see them! Drop your weapons! Arthur, what the hell is going on here?"
Julian raised his head from the pavement, a bloody smile spreading across his face. "Chief! Shoot these bastards! They're terrorists! They broke in and kidnapped Audrey!"
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Chief Vance pointed his pistol at Elias. "You heard him! On the ground, old man!"
Elias didn't even blink. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather wallet, flipping it open to reveal a dark bronze badge embedded with a crest that made Chief Vance's eyes widen in sheer horror.
