Chapter 12 - The Federal NetThe bullet didn't hit me.
Before Vanessa’s finger had even fully depressed the trigger, a deafening flashbang grenade detonated from the rafters above, blinding her with a blinding wall of magnesium white light and deafening concussive sound.
Vanessa shrieked, dropping her pistol as she stumbled backward, clutching her ears and blinking frantically against the glare.
From every dark corner of the warehouse, tactical operators in full gear swarmed the floor like shadows. Within three seconds, Vanessa Cole was slammed face-first against the concrete floor, her arms wrenched behind her back, steel handcuffs clicking shut around her wrists.
Marcus Hale stepped out from behind a stack of wooden crates, holding a tactical radio, a grim, satisfied smirk on his face.
“Federal agents are inbound from the Seattle field office to take custody of the prisoner, General,” Marcus reported formally, stepping over to my side. “Perimeter is locked down tight.”
I walked slowly over to where Vanessa was pinned to the floor, gasping for breath against the cold concrete, her expensive white designer coat stained with oil and dust. I looked down at her with calm, absolute pity.
“You should have stayed in Zurich, Vanessa,” I whispered.
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Twenty minutes later, the warehouse doors were flooded with the flashing red and blue lights of federal patrol cars. Special agents from the FBI’s white-collar crime division took formal custody of Vanessa Cole, her encrypted flash drive, and her weapon, marching her out in full view of local press photographers who had miraculously been tipped off by Evelyn’s PR team.
The headlines by dawn would shatter whatever remained of Mercer Dynamics' public reputation and Vanguard’s institutional credibility.
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