Chapter 12: The Vanguard
To fight an invisible enemy, one must find their shadow. Elena drove to a motel in Portland, purchasing a burner laptop with cash. She tapped into the encrypted dark-web forums she hadn't visited in a year. She needed to know who was absorbing the vacuum left by the Thorne collapse.
Through layers of proxy servers, she uncovered a chilling truth. Julian’s empire was a front for a much older, infinitely more dangerous syndicate known only as Vanguard. They weren't angry about the money; they were furious about the exposure. By dismantling Julian, Evelyn had drawn the FBI's gaze toward Vanguard's offshore accounts. She wasn't a loose end—she was a target of corporate extermination.
