Chapter 18 - The Trap Springs
The rain fell in sheets over Chicago as a black van slipped quietly into the subterranean parking garage of Hartwell Freight’s corporate headquarters at 2:00 AM.
Inside the van, Leo Vance and three masked mercenaries checked their firearms, confident that their insider blueprints would grant them silent access to the executive elevators.
They piled out of the vehicle, moving stealthily toward the service core doors, their boots splashing against the wet concrete.
Leo raised his cloned keycard and swiped it against the reader.
The green light flashed, and the heavy steel door slid open.
But instead of an empty corridor leading to the executive suites, Leo stepped directly into the blinding glare of a dozen tactical floodlights.
"Federal Bureau of Investigation! Drop your weapons!" roared a chorus of voices from the shadows.
Before Leo and his men could even raise their firearms, heavily armed tactical agents swarmed from every angle, pinning them to the concrete floor in a matter of seconds.
High above, standing safely behind the reinforced glass of her private monitoring station in the executive suite, Caroline watched the entire operation unfold on her security console.
Marcus stood beside her, lowering an encrypted radio receiver.
"It's over, Mrs. Mercer," Marcus reported firmly.
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"All four suspects are in custody. Leo's burner drives have been confiscated. There is no longer a single active threat left on the board."
Caroline let out a long, steady breath, feeling the final, lingering weight of the past five years lift entirely off her shoulders as the trap closed with absolute precision.
