CHAPTER 5
"What did you do?!" Victor roared, dropping his phone onto the floor as he lunged across the rug directly toward my shivering form.
Before his hands could touch me, the heavy oak front doors of our Charleston estate were blown off their hinges with a deafening, explosive crash.
A squad of black-clad FBI SWAT operatives swept into the grand foyer, their assault rifles raised, light modules cutting through the dust clouds with blinding intensity.
"Federal agents! On the ground! Get on the ground now!" the lead team commander shouted, his voice booming off the vaulted ceilings like thunder.
Celeste shrieked in terror, dropping her wine glass as it shattered across the hardwood floor, spilling red liquid like blood across her white silk robe.
Victor froze mid-stride, his hands instinctively shooting into the air as three red laser targeting grids converged directly on the center of his chest.
"Victor Hale," Special Agent Sarah Lin announced, stepping through the tactical breach wearing a pristine federal suit and holding an active arrest warrant. "You are under arrest for attempted murder, arson, corporate espionage, wire fraud, and treasonous smuggling of unregistered cargo."
"This is a mistake!" Victor screamed, his voice cracking with rising panic as two agents tackled him to the floor, forcing his arms behind his back. "I am the CEO of Hale Global Shipping! You can't touch me! My lawyers will have your badges by dinner!"
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Agent Lin walked calmly over to where I lay on the floor, kneeling beside me with deep professional respect and carefully helping me sit up against the sofa.
"Mrs. Hale," Agent Lin said softly, taking the remote control from my hand and securing it inside an anti-static evidence bag. "The data transmission from your yacht is complete. Every federal agency on the Eastern Seaboard is currently seizing your husband's assets."
