Chapter 26 - The Shadow Ledger
The cold steel of the handcuffs clicked around Beatrice Vance’s manicured wrists. She let out a sharp, choked gasp as a federal agent pulled her arms behind her back, her designer gown bunching inelegantly under the restraint.
"Get your hands off me!" she shrieked, struggling against the agent's grip. "Avery, look at me! You think this makes you victorious? You think you’ve won?"
I stepped closer to her, my voice dropping to a razor-sharp whisper that only she could hear. "Where is Marcus, Beatrice?"
A grotesque, triumphant smile broke through her fury. Her teeth were bared like an animal cornered in a trap. "You think Marcus was running to Zurich? You stupid, naive little soldier. Marcus isn't running away. He’s already where he needs to be. You think you can stop that transmission from Fauquier County? The uplink isn't just sending Black Trident’s schematics. It’s transmitting the override codes that disable the entire Pacific early-warning missile grid for seventy-two hours."
My eyes narrowed. "He planted a backdoor in the hardware firmware."
"The moment the countdown hits zero, forty million dollars lands in an untraceable account, and Marcus steps aboard a diplomatic transport with absolute immunity," Beatrice sneered, her voice dripping with venom. "You destroyed my family's reputation, Avery. But my son will leave your beloved Navy blind in the Pacific. And every death that follows will be written on your record."
"Take her out," I ordered the marshals.
"You can't stop him, Avery!" she screamed as they dragged her down the marble hallway toward the private elevator. "You will always be the nobody from the Midwest who wasn't worthy to scrub my floors! Do you hear me? You're nothing!"
Her screams faded as the elevator doors sealed shut.
I turned immediately to Agent Vance. "Did the surveillance team at the Fauquier bunker report in?"
"No, Admiral," Vance said, checking his tactical tablet, his expression darkening. "We lost communication with the perimeter team three minutes ago. There’s an active jamming field covering a five-mile radius around the facility."
"Marcus isn't using a remote program," I realized, the puzzle pieces snapping together with terrifying precision. "He never got on that corporate jet. He sent a decoy pilot to Zurich. Marcus is physically at the bunker, running the override sequence himself."
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"The HRT team from Belvoir is still twelve minutes out," Agent Vance warned.
"We don't have twelve minutes," I said, turning on my heel toward the elevator. "Authorize the local strike team. We move now."
