Chapter 18 - The Shadow Overseer
As Ethan connected a secure tactical military drive to extract the data,
a heavy,
deliberate clapping sound echoed from the dark control booth at the far end of the vault.
I swung my weapon toward the shadow,
my finger resting lightly against the trigger.
A door opened slowly,
and a tall figure stepped out into the dim light of the server room.
It was not Julian Mercer,
nor was it one of his tactical mercenaries.
It was a woman dressed in a sharp,
tailored business suit,
holding a sleek black pistol in her hand.
Her cold grey eyes looked at me with an expression of bitter,
calculating hatred.
It was Victoria Vance,
the senior managing partner of Vance Corporate Legal,
and the older sister of Ryan's defense attorney,
Victor Vance.
"Remarkable,
Captain Cross,"
Victoria said,
her voice smooth,
arrogant,
and filled with dark condescension.
"I must admit,
I completely underestimated your persistence.
You survived Afghanistan,
you survived your brother's legal ambush,
and you managed to breach Blackwood Manor."
I kept my firearm locked onto her chest,
my eyes unblinking.
"You were the true architect behind Aegis,"
I realized,
putting the final pieces of the puzzle together.
"Julian Mercer was just the front man who handled the defense brokers.
Victor Vance was the legal enforcer who managed the court bribery.
And you were the one controlling my brother Ryan from the shadows."
Victoria let out a cold,
hollow laugh that echoed off the metal walls.
"Your brother Ryan was a pathetic,
greedy fool,"
Victoria spat out with total disgust.
"He was so desperate to prove he was better than you,
so eager to take his father's empire,
that he signed every document I put in front of his face without reading a single word.
He thought he was becoming a billionaire,
when in reality,
he was simply handing us the keys to Cross Meridian Systems."
"And my mother?"
I asked,
my voice steady despite the deep pain lingering in my heart.
"Evelyn was easy,"
Victoria scoffed,
waving her hand dismissively.
"A weak,
vain woman who cared more about maintaining her high-society lifestyle and protecting her favorite son than seeking the truth.
We convinced her that you were a threat to her family's wealth,
and she willingly stepped onto that witness stand to lie for us."
"You destroyed my family,"
I said,
taking a slow,
deliberate step forward.
"Your family destroyed itself,
Claire,"
Victoria countered,
her knuckles turning white as she raised her pistol toward my head.
"And now,
you are going to die down here in this basement,
just another casualty of an unfortunate counter-terrorism raid."
Before Victoria could pull the trigger,
a suppressed shot echoed through the vault from behind the main control panel.
The bullet struck Victoria's arm,
knocking her gun from her hand and sending it spinning across the floor.
Ethan stepped out from behind the server rack,
his weapon trained on her as she collapsed onto her knees,
screaming in pain while clutching her bleeding arm.
"You talk too much,
Victoria,"
Ethan said coldly,
stepping forward and kicking her weapon far out of reach.
I walked over to her,
looking down at the woman who had pulled the strings behind my family's ruin.
"Your reign is over,"
I told her quietly.
May you like
"And unlike my brother,
you won't have a corrupt lawyer to save you."
