Chapter 8 - The Shadow BoardBANG!
The sharp crack of the gunshot echoed through the fourth-floor corridor.
Victor threw himself to the left, the bullet shattering a glass trophy case behind him. Before Evelyn could cock the hammer again, a sharp flash illuminated the window behind her.
A high-caliber sniper round shattered the reinforced glass, striking Evelyn’s revolver and blowing it completely out of her hand. She screamed in agony, collapsing against the mahogany table as federal agents poured into the boardroom from the fire stairwell.
Special Agent Sarah Reyes of the FBI stepped into the room, her tactical vest covered in glass dust, her sidearm raised. "Federal agents! Freeze!"
Victor raised his hands calmly, stepping away from the trembling executives. "Agent Reyes. You took your time."
Reyes lowered her weapon slightly, acknowledging Victor with a grim nod. "We intercepted Julian’s communications forty minutes ago. The Federal Magistrate just issued an emergency federal seizure warrant for Vance Consortium. Where is Mia Vance?"
Ten minutes later, Agent Reyes, Victor, and Mia stood inside the fifth-floor office. Little Tommy was wrapped safely in a warm blanket in Mia’s arms.
"The federal warrant gives us authority to freeze Julian’s personal accounts," Agent Reyes explained, laying out a series of legal documents on the desk. "But Julian has called an emergency board meeting at Vance Tower in one hour. He intends to invoke a wartime succession clause that allows him to sell fifty-one percent of the company to an anonymous overseas syndicate before our injunction goes into effect."
"If he sells those shares to an overseas syndicate, the money disappears into untraceable crypto vaults," Victor said. "We'll never prove his connection to Arthur's murder."
Mia stepped forward, her eyes burning with an intense, unwavering resolve. "Not if the rightful majority shareholder attends that meeting first."
Agent Reyes looked at Mia with concern. "Mia, Vance Tower is currently lockdown status. Julian’s private security detail is armed to the teeth."
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"I have my father's original hard drive," Mia said, lifting the black device. "And I have Tommy’s DNA record validated by the federal database. My father spent his entire life protecting this legacy from Julian Vance. I am not going to hide in a hospital while he sells my family's future to international criminals."
Victor looked at Mia, a quiet sense of pride gleaming in his eyes. "Then we don't go as fugitives," Victor said softly. "We go as the owners."
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