Chapter 9 - The Fall of the Architect
"FEDERAL AGENTS! DON'T MOVE! GET ON THE GROUND NOW!"
A flashbang grenade went off in the hallway, filling the air with blinding white light and a roaring crack that shook the floorboards.
Tactical FBI officers in heavy body armor poured into the room, their assault rifles raised, lasers painting red dots across Colin Vance’s chest.
Colin dropped his glass of bourbon. It shattered on the oriental rug.
"Drop to your knees! Hands behind your head! NOW!" an agent screamed.
Colin stood frozen, his eyes wide with absolute disbelief. "What... what is this?! I am Colin Vance! I am the CEO of Vance Capital! You can't touch me!"
I stepped through the shattered library doors, flanked by Special Agent Thorne and Arthur Sterling.
The crimson velvet of my dress caught the light of the fire as I stepped over the splintered wood of the door frame, stopping three feet from where Colin stood pinned under the rifles of four federal agents.
"You're not the CEO of anything anymore, Colin," I said softly, my voice calm, cold, and triumphant.
Colin looked from me to Savannah, who calmly unbuttoned her trench coat to reveal the state-of-the-art wire tap strapped to her chest.
"You... you set me up," Colin gasped, his face draining of all color. "You little whore—"
"Language, Mr. Vance," Agent Thorne snapped, kicking Colin’s legs out from under him and forcing him down onto his knees on the floor.
"Colin Vance," Agent Thorne announced, pulling steel handcuffs from his belt and snapping them violently around Colin’s wrists. "You are under arrest for Capital Murder, Corporate Espionage, Extortion, and Fraud."
"This wire isn't admissible!" Colin shrieked, struggling as agents pulled him to his feet. "My lawyers will destroy this case before sunrise!"
"Your wiretap was authorized under a federal Title III emergency murder warrant signed by a United States District Judge two hours ago, Mr. Vance," Arthur Sterling announced smoothly, holding up a blue legal document. "And as we speak, federal marshals are seizing all assets, accounts, and properties belonging to Vance Capital."
Colin stared at me, his eyes wild with a terrifying mixture of rage, hatred, and defeat.
"Your father was a fool, Eleanor!" Colin spat, blood trickling from his lip where he had hit the floor. "He was weak! And so are you!"
I walked up to him, stopping inches from his face, looking down at the man who had ordered my father's death and tried to destroy my life.
"My father built a legacy that survived your poison, Colin," I said quietly, reaching out to gently straighten the lapel of his tuxedo jacket. "You built an empire out of lies, murder, and cheap greed. And tonight, it burned to the ground."
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I turned my back on him. "Take him away."
The agents dragged Colin Vance out of the library, his desperate screams echoing down the marble halls of the estate, past the shocked, staring faces of Washington’s elite guests who recorded every second of his disgrace on their phones.
