Chapter 21 - Checkmate in Silver
Inside the compound's subterranean command theater, the Vanguard regional director—a former CIA deputy named Marcus Vance—was frantically hammering keystrokes into a server rack, trying to initiate an emergency data scrub.
*BANG!*
The heavy mahogany doors flew off their hinges as Dominic kicked them inward. Two guards raised their submachine guns, but Dominic fired three rapid, pinpoint shots, dropping them instantly before they could clear their holsters.
Vance spun around in terror, backing against the blinking server racks. "Moretti?! That's impossible! You were inside the estate when the thermite dropped!"
"You should have verified the bodies, Vance," Dominic said coldly, advancing into the room with his gun leveled at the director's forehead.
Evelyn stepped into the room right behind Dominic. When Vance saw her face, his jaw dropped in utter shock.
"The waitress..." Vance stammered. "David Carter’s sister..."
"My name is Evelyn Carter," she said, her voice ringing clear and authoritative through the room. "And you ordered the hit on my brother in that alleyway behind the diner."
Vance swallowed hard, trembling as Dominic grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the glass server door.
"Give her the override key, or I will peel you apart layer by layer," Dominic whispered into Vance’s ear with ice in his tone.
"It won't change anything!" Vance gasped, gasping for air. "Senator Sterling has already briefed the Attorney General! At noon, the executive order signing the Moretti crime family as domestic terrorists will be broadcast live from the Capitol! You're dead men walking!"
"Then we will give the American public something else to watch," Evelyn said coldly.
She walked past Vance straight to the master terminal. She inserted the silver pendant into the primary console and pressed her thumb against the biometric scanner. The system chimed in verification.
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*BIOMETRIC CONFIRMED: CARTER, EVELYN. ACCESS GRANTED TO OPERATION VANGUARD MASTER ARCHIVE.*
"Arthur," Evelyn spoke into her headset, her eyes fixed on the streaming terabytes of damning evidence. "Route the feed directly to every major news network, the Pentagon’s inspector general, and the international press corps. It’s time the world saw who the real monsters are."