Chapter 34 - The Ledger of Secrets
The air in my high-rise office suddenly felt heavy, thick with the ghosts of a violent past I thought I had permanently buried. For seven years, I had built a new life, a legitimate empire, and a loving home for my daughters and Marcus. I had traded the gun for the boardroom, the bloodshed for philanthropy. And yet, an old skeleton from the bottom of the Chicago River had just surfaced to rattle its chains at my front door.
"Detective," I said, my voice maintaining a terrifying, calm composure. "That ledger was written during a very different era of my life. An era when survival required extreme measures. If that file goes to the federal prosecutor's office, what does it mean?"
Reynolds leaned back in his chair, studying me with tired, perceptive eyes. "It means a media firestorm, Damian. It means federal investigations, grand jury subpoenas, and a very public dismantling of everything you've built since your retirement. But... it also means my department is drowning in violent crime right now. We don't have the manpower or the political backing to launch an eight-year-old cold case investigation unless there's an active public threat."
I narrowed my eyes slightly. "Meaning?"
"Meaning I'm a realist," Reynolds sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I know who you are, Damian. I know you run this city, legally or otherwise. If that ledger is quietly secured and permanently locked away where neither the feds nor rival gangs can ever touch it... well, sometimes letting sleeping dogs lie is the smartest policing a detective can do."
I looked down at the worn manila file resting on my desk. "And what's your price for letting sleeping dogs lie, Detective?"
Reynolds didn't blink. "No price. Just a warning. Someone planted that car in the river on purpose today, Damian. Someone wanted that ledger found. It wasn't an accident. You've got an enemy out there who wants to drag you back into the mud."
After Detective Reynolds left my office, I sat in silence for a long time. The warning echoed in my mind like a ticking clock. Someone had intentionally dragged Pendelton's car out of the river. Someone wanted to spark a war between my legitimate empire and the federal government.
May you like
I picked up my secure phone and dialed Viktor's number.
"Viktor," I ordered the moment he answered. "Drop everything. Find out who leaked the location of Pendelton's car to the Chicago P.D. Someone is trying to dig up my past. And in my world, when people go digging for skeletons, they usually end up in the grave with them."
