The Shadow Gate
Chapter 5 - The Council of Shadows
By 1:00 AM, the massive mahogany table in the estate's underground briefing room was crowded with four of Roman’s top lieutenants and his chief of security, Viktor.
Roman sat at the head of the table, his face carved from cold granite, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the wood.
“Find them,” Roman said, his voice dropping into a register so quiet and lethal that the men flinched. “Every highway camera, every hotel registry, every private airstrip in a three-state radius. If she crossed county lines, I want to know within the hour.”
Viktor hesitated, clearing his throat nervously.
“Boss... we checked the perimeter logs. The vehicle that picked Mrs. Moretti up didn't belong to an outsider.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“Whose car was it?”
“Plates trace back to a private holding corporation registered to your sister, Elena Ward,” Viktor said carefully.
The room went dead silent.
Roman stood up so fast his chair crashed backward onto the concrete floor.
Elena.
She had harbored his wife.
She had given Aaron the very door he didn't control.
