Chapter 27 - The Sister's Counterstrike
"What are you talking about?" I cried, ducking behind a massive granite boulder as bullets tore through the pine needles above our heads. Marcus reloaded with one hand, his breathing heavy and ragged.
"Vivienne Dubois keeps her core biological research and the encrypted server logs in the Apex flagship penthouse in Boston," Lauren explained over the satellite link. "She emptied the building’s private security detail to send them to the Berkshires to corner you, and to Maine to incinerate an empty cabin. I’m already inside, Clara. I’m standing in front of her central servers."
Tears sprang to my eyes. Lauren hadn't abandoned me. She had used herself as bait to split Vivienne’s forces.
"Marcus is hurt, Lauren!" I said. "We’re pinned on the ridge!"
"Look up at the highway pass two hundred yards to your east," Lauren commanded. "Do you see headlights?"
I peered through the driving rain. Cutting through the darkness on the ridge road were four heavy black trucks bearing the insignia of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sirens flashing silently in tactical blackout mode.
"I didn't just wire Vance’s offshore funds, Clara," Lauren said, her voice fierce with triumphant venom. "I used twenty million of it to buy Julian Vance’s lead defense attorney. Vance flipped forty minutes ago inside federal detention. He traded Vivienne Dubois's entire criminal operation to save himself from a life sentence in ADX Florence. Federal marshals are raiding the estate grounds right now."
As if on cue, the night sky was torn open by the deafening thrum of federal helicopters. Loudspeakers echoed across the valley: *This is the FBI. Drop your weapons and step away from the vehicles!*
Below us, Vivienne’s mercenaries hesitated, caught between the federal perimeter and Marcus’s sniper fire. Vivienne Dubois herself stood frozen on the ruined terrace of our childhood home, her aristocratic arrogance crumbling as federal agents swarmed the lawn from every direction.
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"You're safe, Clara," Lauren whispered through the phone. "Now come to Boston. It’s time to meet your niece."
***