Chapter 68 - The Ambush in the Carriage House
The heavy iron door swung open into the dark, oil-scented interior of the vintage carriage house. Three classic touring cars sat beneath dust sheets, surrounded by wooden crates and antique maintenance tools. But the room was far from empty.
Mounted on a steel workbench in the center of the garage was an array of mobile satellite communications gear, glowing with cold blue luminescence. Two technicians in civilian clothing were rapidly typing into dual terminal setups, their screens flickering with cascading lines of financial transfer code. Standing behind them, his back to us, was Julian Vance, speaking softly into a satellite handset.
"Transfer twenty percent of the Latin American debt tranches into the Singapore entity," Julian was saying. "Once the biometric authorization is secured from the niece, execute the irrevocable transfer."
Marcus moved with silent, lethal precision. Before the technicians could turn around, he closed the distance, striking the first technician across the temple with the butt of his weapon, dropping him instantly. The second man reached for a holster beneath his coat, but Marcus drove him face-first into the metal bench, pinning his arm behind his back and disarming him in a single, brutal motion.
Julian did not run. He did not even flinch. He slowly lowered the handset, placed it gently onto the desk beside an open titanium briefcase containing an illuminated optical scanner, and turned around to face us.
"Predictable, Leah," Julian said, offering a faint, mocking smile. "I knew Eleanor would remember the carriage house conduit. She always did prefer running like a rat through the drains rather than standing in the light."
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"Step away from the terminal, Julian," I said, holding a heavy iron wrench I had grabbed from the threshold. "It’s over. Marcus has your men cut off from their communications array. We broadcast the Arthur Weiss files twenty minutes ago from Lake Geneva's backup dish."
Julian tilted his head back and laughed, a cold, echoing sound that filled the cavernous garage. "Did you? Check your screens, Leah. Take a look at what you actually broadcast."
