Chapter 11 - The Boardroom Raid
A smoke grenade rolled across the polished parquet floor of the library, releasing thick, acrid white clouds.
"Federal agents! Get down!" Agent Vance roared, drawing his sidearm and shoving Olivia and Dr. Mercer behind a massive oak card-catalog desk.
Through the smoke, two masked figures dressed in tactical gear advanced, their suppressed weapons scanning the room. Victor Kraus—the man from the courtyard—stepped through the broken doorway, holding a tactical submachine gun.
"Drop the drive, Agent Vance," Kraus’s voice was cool, European, and chillingly devoid of emotion. "Apex will pay you ten times what the government pays you to walk away."
"Not interested," Vance shouted back, firing three rapid rounds from behind cover.
Gunfire erupted, tearing through antique books and shattering display cabinets. Olivia clutched the thumb drive against her chest, her back pressed against the heavy desk. She knew that if Kraus took that drive, seventy-four innocent children would never get the medical interventions they desperately needed to survive.
From the hallway behind the library, heavy tactical boots thundered.
"FBI! Put down your weapons! Drop your weapons now!"
Agent Vance’s backup team, stationed around the hospital perimeter, breached the library's rear emergency exits. Flashbangs detonated in blinding, disorienting succession. Kraus realized instantly that his extraction route was compromised. He spun toward the shattered front entrance, firing a burst of suppressive fire before sprinting down the grand staircase toward the street.
"Team Two, intercept the runner at the west gate!" Vance barked into his shoulder mic before turning to check on Olivia and Mercer. "Are you both uninjured?"
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"We're fine," Olivia gasped, wiping soot from her forehead, her fingers still holding the thumb drive securely. "Did you catch him?"
"He won't make it past the perimeter," Vance said, his eyes filled with fierce respect as he looked at the young nurse. "Because of you, Bennett, we have the evidence. The Department of Justice is raiding Apex BioTech's headquarters in New York right now."