Chapter 6 - The Shadow Network
The Vance family estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, was a sprawling stone mansion surrounded by three hundred acres of private woodland and secured by an eight-foot wrought-iron fence.
In the mahogany-paneled library on the second floor, Victor Vance stood by the fireplace, watching news reports of his son’s bail denial on a wall-mounted television. His face was weathered, carved with deep lines of stress, his grey hair brushed back neatly.
Standing behind him was Sergei Rostova—a broad-shouldered man in a dark turtleneck sweater whose silence was far more dangerous than any weapon. Sergei was the head of security for the offshore private equity group that held twenty million dollars of the Vance family's debt.
"Your son is weak, Victor," Sergei said, his accent thick, heavy, and flat. "He failed to execute a simple task. He allowed a former police officer to track his movements, and now he is talking to federal prosecutors in a holding cell."
"Ethan won't break," Victor said, his voice trembling despite his effort to sound confident. "He knows that if he implicates me or your organization, his life in prison won't last a week."
"We cannot rely on the loyalty of a coward," Sergei replied, taking a step closer. "The feds are executing a search warrant on your family’s import firm in New Jersey at dawn tomorrow. They are looking for the shipping manifests for the chemical compounds. If they find the records connecting our organization to those shipments..."
"They won't find them," Victor insisted, turning around to face him. "I burned the physical files two hours ago."
"And the digital backups?" Sergei asked, his eyes narrowing. "The server in your basement?"
Victor hesitated for a fraction of a second. "My IT manager is wiping the hard drives right now."
Before Sergei could answer, the security intercom on Victor’s desk chimed sharply. Victor pressed the button. "What is it?"
"Mr. Vance, we have a breach at the south gate," his chief of security reported, his voice filled with static and heavy breathing. "A vehicle just rammed the gate sensor! Power to the perimeter cameras is down!"
"What?" Victor yelled into the speaker. "Who is it? Is it the police?"
"No, sir! It’s... it’s a private SUV! They’re already across the lawn—"
The line went dead with a loud pop of static.
Downstairs, the sound of heavy iron-reinforced doors being kicked open echoed through the house, followed by the sharp, metallic crunch of security personnel being taken down in rapid succession.
Sergei immediately pulled a silenced pistol from beneath his jacket, stepping in front of Victor. "Stay behind me."
The library doors swung open slowly.
It wasn't a tactical police unit that stepped into the room.
It was Emma Miller, holding a high-powered stun device in one hand and a military-grade flash drive in the other. Beside her stood Marcus Sterling, holding a tactical baton, his knuckles bloody from the guards downstairs. And behind them both walked Sophia, holding a sealed black tablet connected to a remote satellite transmitter.
"Good evening, Victor," Sophia said, her voice terrifyingly calm as she stepped over a fallen marble urn near the entrance. "We came for the server."
Victor stared at her in utter disbelief. "Sophia? Have you lost your mind? You're breaking into my home?"
"Your home was built on stolen money, murder, and poison," Sophia said, taking a step toward him. "Did you really think we would wait for the police to execute a search warrant tomorrow morning? We knew you'd try to wipe the servers tonight."
"Kill them," Victor spat, backing up toward the window, looking at Sergei. "Kill all of them! I’ll pay you whatever you want!"
Sergei raised his pistol, aiming it directly at Emma’s chest.
Before he could pull the trigger, Emma didn't shoot. She pressed a red button on her stun device, launching a concentrated electromagnetic frequency blast directly at the library's main circuit box on the wall.
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CRACK!
The entire estate was instantly plunged into pitch-black darkness.
