Chapter 6 - The High-Stakes Gambit
The plan required a level of audacity that even Dominic found staggering. They weren't going to break into the building at night; they were going to walk in during broad daylight, during the annual shareholder reception, using the very corporate structures Vanguard used to protect themselves.
Leaving Clara in the hotel under the strict, heavily armed protection of Leo and two trusted former marshals, Dominic dressed in a bespoke charcoal suit that hid his scars and his weapons, while Megan wore an elegant emerald silk dress, her hair styled in an intricate updo that made her look like an aristocratic heiress rather than a fugitive analyst.
The lobby of Vanguard Helix was a sea of tuxedos and evening gowns. Megan and Dominic moved through the crowd with practiced ease, their eyes scanning the security detail. They wore earpieces connected to a localized jammer Megan had built, which would blind the security cameras for a precise ninety-second window when they reached the executive elevator.
"Thirty seconds to the lift," Megan whispered, taking a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
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They approached the private elevator bank. The guard stationed there stepped forward, his hand moving toward his radio. Before he could speak, Dominic stepped into his blind spot, pressing a small, high-voltage taser against the man’s lower back. The guard went rigid and slumped forward, Dominic catching him smoothly and propping him against the wall as if he were drunk.
Megan swiped a cloned biometric keycard across the scanner. The elevator doors slid open, and they stepped inside, ascending rapidly toward the seventy-first floor. The drama was about to reach its boiling point.
