The Birthday Ribbon Traitor

The ballroom was virtually empty now, save for Dominic’s loyal enforcers, who had instantly locked down the perimeter doors, drawing their weapons and sealing every exit.

Sal choked, his hands clawing desperately at Dominic’s iron grip. “Boss... please... I swear to God... I didn't know!”

“Who bought the package in, Sal?” Dominic demanded, pressing his forearm harder against Sal’s windpipe. “Give me a name before I stop caring whether you breathe again.”

“It... it was Vanguard,” Sal wheezed, his eyes bulging. “The... the shipping syndicate out of Baltimore. They... they threatened my daughter, Boss! They said if I didn't clear the delivery manifest, she’d end up in the river!”

Dominic slowly relaxed his grip, letting Sal slump to the floor, coughing and gasping for air.

“Vanguard,” Dominic repeated, tasting the name like poison on his tongue.

For five years, Vanguard had been trying to muscle its way into the Mid-Atlantic ports controlled by the Caruso family. Up until now, it had been a quiet corporate war—dock strikes, minor fires, smuggled cargo disputes. But using a bomb at a child’s birthday party to eliminate every major judge, politician, and syndicate boss in Philadelphia in one fell swoop? That wasn't just a turf war. That was an execution of the entire regional power structure.

“How many devices?” Dominic asked, towering over the shaking man on the floor.

“Just... just that one,” Sal whimpered, wiping blood from his split lip. “They said... they said once the bomb went off, the feds would blame internal syndicate infighting, and Vanguard would step in to take over the ports.”

Dominic turned away from Sal, walking over to the bomb disposal expert he had summoned from his private detail—a former military ordinance tech named Miller who was already working meticulously on disarming the trigger mechanism.

“Can you defuse it, Miller?” Dominic asked.

Miller wiped sweat from his brow, his fingers steady as he used a pair of ceramic pliers to clip a tiny blue wire. The digital countdown froze instantly at 00:01:12.