Chapter 39 - The Surgical Gambit
"Go ahead," I said, not flinching. "Press it."
Eleanor’s thumb hovered over the glowing red sensor. For the first time in my life, I saw hesitation in my mother's eyes. It wasn't maternal love; it was the horrifying realization that once Astrid died, her only leverage against me vanished into thin air.
"You think I won't?" she snarled.
"I know you won't until you get the encryption bypass," I countered. "Because if Astrid dies, the bypass key sitting on my private server automatically wipes itself. And without that key, you aren't just broke, Eleanor. You owe seventy-two billion dollars to sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East who do not accept excuses. They will hunt you to the ends of the earth, skin you alive, and hang your carcass from a crane in Dubai."
Suddenly, the lights inside the superyacht flickered. A deep, mechanical hum reverberated through the steel hull.
*Thump. Thump. Thump.*
Out in the harbor, two unmarked high-speed tactical boats roared into view, flanking the *Empress of the Sea*. On the deck, Eleanor's mercenary guards drew their sidearms, but before they could acquire a target, the shatter of stun grenades echoed across the water.
Through my earpiece, Christian’s voice cut through with military precision: "Claire, jamming frequency deployed. Satellite uplink to the *Empress* is severed. The heart monitor is frozen on safe-mode for the next two hundred and forty seconds. We have control of the docks."
Julian’s terrified screams leaked through the reinforced glass as Christian's tactical unit swarmed the aft deck, dropping the yacht's guards with surgical suppression fire. Julian fell to his knees on the teak deck, his hands over his head, sobbing into the wood.
Eleanor’s face contorted into pure rage. She slammed her thumb onto the red detonator button.
Nothing happened.
The screen on her device flashed a fatal error: *SIGNAL CARRIER LOST. SEARCHING FOR SATELLITE...*
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"Four minutes, Eleanor," I said, rising to my feet. "That’s how long your jammer will stay dead. In four minutes, Astrid’s backup surgical team in Monaco will have extracted the neutralized micro-capsule. You lost."
***
