Chapter 25 - THE UNWRITTEN CHAPTER
Autumn slowly melted into the crisp, biting chill of an approaching midwestern winter.
Snowflakes began to drift lazily from the gray sky, dusting the pine trees and rooftops in a pristine blanket of white.
Ethan stood by the living room window, watching Lily build a lopsided snowman in the front yard.
His phone buzzed gently on the side table, displaying an incoming encrypted text message from an unknown Washington D.C. number.
Ethan picked up the device, unlocking the screen with a steady thumb swipe.
The message contained only a single photograph taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at dusk.
Superimposed across the bottom of the image were four chilling words that froze him in his tracks: "The board has a new chairman."
Ethan stared at the screen for a long, silent moment, realizing the syndicate was far larger than just one senator.
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He walked over to the closet, reaching behind the winter coats to check the secure titanium lockbox hidden in the wall.
Inside rested his old service sidearm and a secondary encrypted drive containing the coordinates of a deeper underground facility.
