Chapter 24 - Lines in the Sand
By midnight, the main house was ablaze with tactical floodlights. Federal vehicles with blacked-out windows lined the gravel driveway.
Agent Miller sat across from Alessio and Clara in the study, a thick dossier spread open on the mahogany desk. The ambient light caught the metallic sheen of the platinum band on Clara's finger as she sat beside her husband, her hand firmly resting over his.
"This changes everything, Romano," Miller said, slamming his fist on the table. "Victor Vance is an active FBI Most Wanted fugitive. If you knew he was alive and contact was made, you were required to inform us immediately!"
"I am informing you now, Miller," Alessio replied calmly, taking a slow sip of black coffee. "He gave us twenty-four hours."
"He wants the Chicago distribution codes," Miller spat. "Those codes were turned over to the Justice Department as part of your plea bargain! If those codes leak back into the syndicate, three federal wiretap operations collapse overnight!"
"I don't care about your wiretaps, Agent Miller," Clara interjected, her voice icy and sharp. "I care about the fact that a terrorist just threatened my three-year-old son on our own land. What is the Bureau doing to secure this valley?"
Miller sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "We're setting up a twenty-mile roadblock perimeter. But Vance isn't stupid. He knows we can't search every inch of the abandoned mines near the river. If he launches an armed assault, my team will respond, but..."
"But you can't guarantee our safety," Alessio finished for him. He stood up, towering over the desk. "Which is why you are going to let me handle Victor Vance."
"No way, Romano!" Miller stood up to match him. "You're a civilian now! If you pull a trigger, your immunity deal is null and void! You'll spend the rest of your life in Supermax, and Clara will be left raising Leo alone!"
Clara stood up as well, placing herself directly between the two men. "Agent Miller, listen to me carefully. Victor Vance is using Bruno's debt to compromise us. He thinks we're divided. But he doesn't know that Alessio has already wiped those distribution accounts clean months ago."
Miller blinked, taken aback. "What?"
Alessio smiled faintly, a cold, dangerous glint in his eyes. "Did you really think I left those syndicate accounts intact, Miller? I encrypted them with a secondary wipe algorithm the day I signed your contract. The codes Victor wants are useless. They contain nothing but a digital beacon."
Clara’s eyes lit up with sudden realization. "A beacon that traces the IP address of whoever tries to access it!"
"Exactly," Alessio said. "If Victor plugs that USB drive into his master server to verify the transfer, your cyber division will have his exact physical location within four seconds."
Miller stared at Alessio, a slow grin breaking across his worn face. "You magnificent bastard. You set a trap inside his own blackmail."
"Yes," Alessio said softly. "But Victor won't fall for it unless he thinks I am genuinely desperate. He needs to believe I am handing over the codes to save Bruno."
"And how do we make him believe that?" Miller asked.
May you like
Alessio looked toward the doorway, where Bruno stood waiting, head held high despite his anxiety.
"We give him a show," Alessio said. "Bruno is going to pretend to betray me."
