Chapter 18 - The Sovereign Counterstrike
With Marcus arrested, the tide of the financial war shifted with terrifying speed.
Luca released the forensic proof of the forgery to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg at noon.
By two in the afternoon, the short-sellers targeting Vance Enterprises were completely crushed in a massive short squeeze.
The stock rebounded by twenty-four percent, setting a new all-time high for the company.
Simultaneously, the Clark County District Court dismissed Eleanor Bennett’s emergency injunction with prejudice.
The judge ruled that the Bennett Heritage Trust had engaged in systemic fraud and ordered Eleanor to surrender all documentation regarding Ryan’s original capital.
I sat in the district attorney’s private conference room, watching the television monitor on the wall.
A special report was broadcasting live from Wall Street.
Federal prosecutors had officially unsealed an eight-count indictment against Eleanor Bennett for money laundering, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the 2012 death of a federal attorney.
Arrest warrants had been issued across three states.
"We broke her," Gabriel said, leaning against the doorframe with a triumphant smile.
"Federal marshals are en route to her penthouse suite at the Bellagio right now."
"Her private jet is grounded at the airport."
I looked at the television screen, but a persistent sense of unease gnawed at my instincts.
Eleanor was a woman who had spent decades orchestrating corporate assassinations from the shadows.
She was not the kind of predator who simply waited in a hotel suite for the police to knock on the door.
"Where is she right now, Gabriel?" I asked, standing up from the leather sofa.
"Our tracker on her limousine shows it parked in the Bellagio valet," Gabriel replied, checking his phone.
"Has anyone physically seen her leave the vehicle?"
Gabriel paused, his brow furrowing as he dialed the surveillance team.
He listened for ten seconds, his face hardening instantly.
"The limousine was a decoy," Gabriel said, dropping the phone.
"The driver was paid fifty thousand dollars to sit in the valet with tinted windows."
"Eleanor slipped out through the service tunnels forty minutes ago."
My phone buzzed violently on the table.
It was an alert from the private security firm guarding the construction site of the new children's medical facility.
A video feed appeared on my screen.
Smoke was rising from the central pavilion of the construction zone.
Heavy industrial fuel trucks were parked near the foundation pilings, and security guards were lying unconscious on the perimeter asphalt.
"She's at the hospital," I gasped, the cold realization hitting me like a physical blow.
"She knows she's going to prison, and she wants to destroy the only thing that represents my future."
Luca grabbed his coat from the back of his chair, his eyes blazing with fury.
May you like
"Call every available tactical unit in the city," Luca ordered Gabriel.
"We're going to the site now."
