Chapter 13 - The Trap is Set
Back at the penthouse late that night, the mood was far from celebratory. The air crackled with the heavy, tense static of an impending war.
Vincent stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the glittering skyline, a glass of bourbon untouched in his hand. "Dale has federal immunity protecting his outer layers. If we strike him directly, the Department of Justice will descend on our legitimate shipping lines within hours."
Mave sat at the mahogany dining table, her laptop open, the screen illuminated by cascading lines of encrypted financial data. "We don't need to strike him physically, Vincent. Dale relies on offshore campaign contributions funneled through dummy corporations in the Cayman Islands—the exact same routing system Maroni used."
Vincent turned around, walking over to stand behind her. "Can you trace it?"
"I already have," Mave said, a triumphant smile touching her lips as she hit a final keystroke. "Every illegal lobbying dollar, every bribe paid to port authorities, and every weapon contract signed by Dale's office is currently being mirrored directly to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's internal anti-corruption division, alongside the Securities and Exchange Commission."
Vincent stared at her in sheer awe. "You bypassed his firewall."
"I didn't just bypass it," Mave whispered, looking up into his dark eyes. "I locked him out of his own accounts. By tomorrow morning, Senator Arthur Dale won't have the legal power to buy a cup of coffee, let alone protect himself from federal indictment."
Before Vincent could pull her into his arms, the secure terminal on the desk beeped frantically. A high-priority encrypted alert flashed across the screen.
Incoming transmission from Sector 4 Container Yard.
May you like
Leo’s frantic voice broke through the speaker system. "Boss! We’ve got movement at Dock B! A heavily armed mercenary squad just breached the perimeter gates. They're not Maroni's men—they're federal marshals acting on an emergency warrant issued by Dale's office!"
Vincent’s expression turned to cold, hard granite. "They're trying to seize our servers before Mave's upload completes."
