Chapter 5 - The Fall of the House of Blackwood
Arthur Blackwood’s face transformed from cold arrogance to pure, frantic horror in a fraction of a second.
"Kill him!" Arthur shrieked, pointing a shaking finger at me. "Kill him now! Tear the hard drive out of his hands!"
Victor raised his gun to shoot me, but before he could squeeze the trigger, the reinforced steel doors of the vault building shattered inward with a deafening explosion!
"FEDERAL AGENTS! DROP YOUR WEAPONS! DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!"
A squad of twenty FBI Hostage Rescue Team operators, accompanied by heavily armed US Marshals, flooded into the subterranean vault room through the dust and smoke. Flashbang grenades exploded overhead, filling the room with disorienting white light and concussive sound.
Marcus and Julian fired wildly toward the smoke, but were instantly dropped by non-lethal rubber rounds and tactical tackles. The remaining brothers threw their weapons onto the concrete floor, falling to their knees with their hands held high above their heads.
Victor tried to scramble toward the rear exit, clutching the Aegis Ledger to his chest, but I stepped out from the shadows, caught his collar, and slammed him face-first into the stainless-steel safe doors.
He groaned, falling to his back, blood streaming from his lip.
I stood over him, looking down at the man who had ordered the attack on my wife.
"That was for Claire," I said, driving my combat boot into his ribcage with enough force to shatter his sternum—a single fracture to begin the payment for her thirty-one.
Victor screamed in agony, curling into a fetal position on the cold floor.
FBI Special Agent Sarah Vance stepped through the smoke, her gun lowered, pulling a pair of heavy steel handcuffs from her belt. She slapped them onto Arthur Blackwood’s wrists, pinning the aging patriarch against the vault wall.
"Arthur Blackwood," Agent Vance declared clearly. "You are under arrest for federal racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal weapons trafficking, and treason against the United States. You have the right to remain silent..."
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Arthur didn't listen. He stared at me with pure, unadulterated hatred, his lips trembling with rage. "You ruined us... You ruined a century of family heritage for a worthless girl!"
"Claire isn't worthless, Arthur," I said, walking past him as the agents dragged him away in chains. "She was the only good thing your family ever produced. And now, she’s going to watch your empire turn to ash."
