Chapter 14 - Extraction under Fire
Arthur Vance stepped out of the private elevator, surrounded by six Meridian tactical operators clad in full tactical gear, carbines raised, tactical lights slicing through the amber gloom of the floor.
"Drop your weapons and kick them across the floor," Vance said, his voice ringing with absolute authority. "Now."
Croft’s two men glanced at each other, weighing their odds against trained corporate contractors with high-ground positioning and carbines leveled at center mass. Realizing that Vanguard’s operational backbone had just been vaporized, the two men unholstered their weapons with two fingers and allowed them to clatter against the Italian marble.
Croft remained standing, staring at Julian with hollow, lifeless eyes. "You think you've won, Mercer? You destroyed our primary node. But Marcus Sterling doesn't play by SEC rules. When a wounded animal is backed into a corner, it doesn't surrender. It takes down the whole forest."
"Sterling won't be taking down anything," Vance countered, stepping forward as his security team cuffed the three Vanguard intruders with zip-ties and dragged them toward the service elevator. "Federal agents from the Southern District of New York and the Department of Homeland Security are raiding Vanguard’s corporate headquarters on Park Avenue right now. Julian didn't just wipe your offensive servers, Croft. The payload copied every single ledger, every illicit transaction, and every unencrypted communication directly to the SEC and the DOJ before it triggered the wipe."
Croft’s face drained of what little color remained. He was pushed into the service elevator without another word, the doors closing behind him.
Vance walked up to Julian’s workstation, looking at the glowing monitors, then down at the kid who had stood his ground against armed operatives and an entire corporate syndicate.
"You held the line, Julian," Vance said, extending his hand.
Julian took it, gripping firmly. "The line was never in danger. What about the lobby?"
May you like
Vance sighed, his grim expression softening slightly with a mixture of disgust and pity. "The lobby is where the real circus is. Your mother and sister are down there. The building security detained them the moment the RF cloner signature matched the device in your mother’s designer bag. They’re hysterical. Vanessa is screaming at the guards, threatening lawsuits, claiming that you set them up."
"She didn't set me up," Julian said, unplugging his primary encrypted drive and sliding it into his pocket. "She was just greedy. Let’s go downstairs, Arthur. It’s time to close the family account once and for all."
