Chapter 17
Within ten minutes, heavily armed private security contractors in black tactical gear swarmed the penthouse, securing every perimeter breach and establishing a fortified command center in the living room. Marcus approached Chloe, handing her a ruggedized tactical tablet displaying a live thermal trace of the vehicle that had extracted her mother from the balcony. "The extraction unit used a specialized grappling drone launched from a nearby rooftop, Miss Vance; they're heading toward an abandoned industrial pier on the Hudson River," Marcus reported briskly. Chloe strapped a tactical holster containing a compact firearm over her white silk blouse, her expression hardening into an unreadable mask of cold, calculating resolve.
"Assemble the assault transport; we are going after them tonight," Chloe stated with absolute finality, leaving zero room for argument or hesitation. Marcus nodded once in silent respect, signaling his men to prepare for a high-risk extraction operation on American soil without waiting for sluggish federal bureaucracy. They knew the risks involved in taking on a shadow syndicate that could compromise high-rise penthouses in the heart of Manhattan, but they also knew they served a woman who never lost a war she started. The sleek black transport vehicles glided silently out of the subterranean garage into the rainy New York night, disappearing like ghosts into the neon-lit highway.
