Chapter 5 - Ambush in the Dark
Headlights cut through the gloom of the warehouse, blinding Matthew and Jack. Heavy, suppressed gunfire instantly shattered the concrete pillars around them, showering the air with dust and flying debris.
"Cover!" Marcus roared, firing back with precision shots toward the SUV’s windshield.
Matthew didn't flinch. He grabbed the iron cash box containing the confession, the USB drive, and Lily’s baby bracelet, shoving it inside his heavy trench coat.
"They were tracking the court order!" Jack yelled, hugging the floor as bullets whizzed overhead. "Vance’s mercenaries knew we were pulling the Reynolds box!"
Four heavily armed men in dark tactical gear poured out of the SUV, moving with military precision to sweep the aisles. They weren't low-level thugs; they were professional PMC contractors sent to erase the evidence and everyone who had touched it.
"We have to fall back to the rear loading dock!" Marcus shouted, tossing a smoke grenade toward the center aisle.
Thick gray smoke billowed through the warehouse, obscuring the mercenaries' line of sight. Marcus and the second guard provided suppressing fire while Matthew and Jack sprinted through the maze of metal shelves toward the rear exit.
A masked mercenary stepped out from behind a row of storage boxes, aiming an assault rifle directly at Matthew’s chest. "Drop the box!"
Before the mercenary could pull the trigger, a black security vehicle crashed through the wooden loading dock doors behind them.
The driver's side door flew open, and Diana Hartwell—holding a high-powered sporting rifle she kept at the estate—aimed out the window and fired a non-lethal heavy beanbag round directly into the mercenary's chest, knocking him flat on his back.
"GET IN!" Diana screamed over the roar of the engine.
Matthew and Jack scrambled into the back seat of the heavy SUV. Marcus leaped into the front passenger seat, slamming the door just as a volley of automatic fire peppered the armored glass.
Diana slammed the SUV into reverse, spinning the heavy vehicle around in a spray of gravel and rain, before flooring the accelerator out into the stormy night.
"Di!" Matthew gasped, wiping dust from his face. "What are you doing here?! Where are the girls?!"
"I left them at the estate under full lockdown with six armed guards and the state police department standing outside the perimeter!" Diana yelled over her shoulder, her hands gripping the steering wheel tight as she tore down the slippery highway. "I saw Jack’s automated legal alert go off showing a breach at the server level! I knew you were walking into a trap!"
"Vance knows everything," Jack said, frantically typing on his secure tablet despite the bouncing car. "He knows we have the recording linking him to Sophia’s murder."
"He's running," Matthew realized, his mind clearing through the adrenaline. "If Vance sent mercenaries to destroy this evidence, he’s prepping to flee Switzerland before Interpol can lock down his assets."
"Not if I lock them down first," Jack said, his fingers flying across the screen. "With this audio recording and Eleanor’s written confession, I can trigger an emergency international asset freeze through the Department of Justice within thirty minutes. Arthur Vance won't be able to buy a bottle of water, let alone a private jet ticket."
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Matthew pulled Lily’s small silver baby bracelet from his coat pocket, clutching it tight in his fist.
"Do it, Jack," Matthew said softly, his voice cold as arctic ice. "Freeze his life. Strip him of every dollar, every privilege, every shadow he hides behind. And then tell the FBI to bring Dr. Arthur Vance to me in chains."
