Chapter 6 - The Wire in the Wall
Later that night, as the gala concluded, Julian made his desperate move.
While Lauren and I were being escorted through the private VIP parking concourse beneath the hotel, four armed men in dark tactical gear stepped out from behind concrete pillars, drawing suppressed handguns.
"Get in the van, Mrs. Bennett," the lead mercenary commanded. "Mr. Sterling wants this signed tonight."
Before the gunman could raise his weapon, my instincts from years of construction hazards and tactical drills took over.
I lunged forward, slamming my shoulder into the lead attacker with concussive force, knocking him into the concrete pillar and disarming his weapon with a sharp twist of his wrist.
"Lauren! Behind the SUV!" I roared.
A second attacker lunged at Lauren, but I drew my concealed tactical taser, firing two probes directly into his chest. The high-voltage charge dropped him instantly to the asphalt, convulsing in the dark.
The remaining two mercenaries panicked, scrambling into an idling black sedan and speeding toward the street exit.
Within forty-five seconds, sirens echoed through the underground concourse as Arthur Vance’s private security detail swarmed the area, pinning the neutralized attackers face-down on the concrete.
From the jacket pocket of the lead mercenary, I retrieved an encrypted smartphone and a digital key card.
I unlocked the phone using the attacker's thumbprint.
The screen lit up with text messages, GPS coordinates, and wire transfer confirmations originating directly from Julian Sterling’s private offshore account.
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Attached to the messages were audio recordings revealing that Julian had bugged Lauren’s corporate offices, bribed two Titan board members, and hired contracted thugs to stage a fatal "car crash" if Lauren refused to sign the restructuring agreement.
"We have everything, Lauren," I said, handing the phone to Arthur Vance. "Airtight, unredacted federal conspiracy."
