Chapter 14 - Fire and Steel
The Maybach tore through the empty streets of the harbor district at breakneck speed, its headlights slicing through the thick midnight fog. Inside, Vincent checked the magazine of his Sig Sauer, while Mave calmly secured her encrypted tablet into a secure steel briefcase, locking it with a digital passcode.
"If they seize the hardware, we lose the leverage," Mave said, her voice steady despite the adrenaline pumping through her veins.
"They won't get within fifty feet of it," Vincent replied, his voice absolute.
When the car slid to a halt outside the Sector 4 administrative building, the yard was already surrounded by three tactical vans bearing federal insignia. Armed agents in full riot gear were establishing a perimeter around the main server bay.
Vincent didn't wait for formalities. He kicked his door open, stepping out into the cold night air with his weapon drawn. Leo and a dozen Costa enforcers poured out behind him, forming an impenetrable wall of tactical support.
"Halt! Federal warrant! Drop your weapons!" a loud-hailer blared from behind an armored vehicle.
Vincent didn't drop anything. He raised his rifle, firing a precise warning shot directly over the armored vehicle's windshield, shattering the glass in a spiderweb pattern. "This is private property! You have no jurisdiction here without a judge's signature, and Dale's signatures just became worthless!"
Chaos erupted as tactical agents scrambled for cover, but before a full-scale firefight could break out, the heavy steel doors of the main administration office burst open.
Senator Arthur Dale walked out, escorted by two frantic marshals, his face flushed with panicked rage. "Costa! You're insane! You're attacking federal officers!"
"I'm executing a citizen's arrest for treason and corruption," Vincent declared, closing the distance between them with terrifying speed, ignoring the weapons pointed at his chest.
At that exact moment, every mobile phone belonging to the federal agents buzzed simultaneously. Tablets flashed red. Sirens wailed not from police cruisers, but from the secure internal terminals of the federal network itself.
May you like
Mave stepped out of the Maybach, holding her tablet high. "Your freeze orders just hit the SEC database, Senator. The FBI anti-corruption division received your offshore bank records three minutes ago. Your own task force is here to arrest you."
Dale spun around, staring in sheer horror as the commanding officer of the federal tactical squad lowered his weapon, stepped forward, and slapped a pair of heavy steel handcuffs around the senator's wrists.
