Chapter 7 - The Confrontation
I backed away slowly against the administrator console, my hands raised in front of my chest, shielding the flashing monitor screen behind my back.
"Marcus," I said, forcing my voice to stay level despite the sheer terror gripping my throat. "Put the gun down."
Marcus let out a soft, dry laugh that sounded like dry leaves scraping across concrete. He stepped further into the icy server room, his expensive leather shoes clicking sharply against the raised floor tiles.
"Do you have any idea how much effort I put into setting you up, Julian?" Marcus asked smoothly, leaning against the edge of a server rack. "It was almost artistic. A brilliant young partner, blinded by his own pathetic little affair, stealing from his firm and his family foundation to fuel his double life. It was the perfect narrative for the press, the SEC, and the family court."
"I know about Vanguard Operations, Marcus," I spat, my eyes locked on the barrel of the pistol. "I know you siphoned four million dollars out of my son's trust fund to cover your failed investments in Frankfurt."
Marcus frowned slightly, shaking his head with mock disappointment. "Your son's trust fund was just liquid collateral, Julian. Business is brutal. You should know that better than anyone."
Behind my back, I felt the console keyboard. My fingers reached blindly behind my waist, searching for the flash drive. The progress bar on the screen behind me reached 94%.
"Did Vanessa know?" I asked, trying to keep him talking to buy three more seconds. "Did you pay her to distract me?"
Marcus chuckled softly. "Vanessa? God, no. She’s just a vain, greedy little girl who wanted designer handbags and an apartment in Soho. I didn't need to pay her to distract you, Julian. Your own weak, pathetic ego did all the work for me."
The words struck me like a physical slap, because I knew he was telling the absolute truth. He hadn't needed a grand conspiracy to ruin my life; he had simply laid out a trail of cheap vanity, and I had eagerly followed it straight into his trap.
Beep.
A quiet, soft chime emitted from the console behind me.
MIRROR BACKUP COMPLETE. REMOVE DRIVE.
Marcus’s eyes narrowed instantly, shifting from my face to the monitor screen glowing blue behind my back.
"What did you just do?" Marcus demanded, his voice dropping all warmth, his hand raising the pistol directly at my chest.
"I just ended your career, Marcus," I said.
I grabbed the flash drive from the port, spun around, and hurled the heavy steel wireless keyboard straight at his face.
Smash!
The keyboard struck Marcus squarely across his nose and jaw. He cried out in pain, staggering backward against the server rack as the gun discharged with a deafening BANG!
The bullet shattered the thick glass panel of a server rack beside my head, sending sharp shards raining down around me.
I didn't hesitate. I tackled Marcus with all my weight, slamming him back against the concrete wall. The pistol flew out of his hand, skittering across the smooth floor tiles and sliding under a row of server racks in the dark.
Marcus groaned, striking me across the temple with his heavy gold signet ring. Pain exploded behind my eyes, vision blurring, but I held onto his lapels with desperate, maniacal strength, pinning him against the rack.
"You ruined my family!" I roared, throwing a violent right hook that caught him cleanly under his jaw. "You took my son's future!"
Marcus collapsed to his knees, gasping for air, blood pouring from his nose onto his crisp white shirt.
Before he could recover, the glass doors of the server room burst open once again.
Four heavy-set men in black tactical vests labeled FEDERAL AGENTS swarmed into the room, their weapons raised, tactical flashlights cutting through the dim blue light.
"FEDERAL AGENTS! DON'T MOVE! GET ON THE GROUND!"
I raised my bloody hands instantly, stepping back from Marcus and dropping to my knees on the cold floor.
Behind the tactical team walked Assistant United States Attorney David Chen, accompanied by Arthur Pendelton.
And standing right behind them, holding a secure encrypted tablet in her hands, was Claire.
She stepped into the server room, looking down at Marcus Sterling bleeding on the floor, then turned her eyes to me, lying bruised and breathless on the tiles, holding the small flash drive tightly in my fist.
David Chen stepped forward, pulling out a pair of steel handcuffs and ratcheting them tightly around Marcus’s wrists.
"Marcus Sterling," Chen announced coldly. "You are under arrest for federal wire fraud, grand larceny, obstruction of justice, and attempted murder."
Marcus spat blood onto the floor, glaring up at Claire with pure hatred. "You... you crazy bitch... you brought the feds into my building?!"
May you like
Claire looked down at him with utter disdain.
"You stole from my son, Marcus," Claire said, her voice echoing clear and cold through the icy server room. "You should have known I'd bring the entire world down on your head."
