Chapter 13 - The Forty-Eight-Hour Countdown and the Decoy
I stepped forward slowly, pretending to hesitate, my fingers trembling as I reached for the digital keypad on the Pelican case.
“I want my safety guaranteed in writing first,” I said, stalling for time, keeping my voice carefully calibrated to sound terrified.
“You are in no position to negotiate terms, Mrs. Vance,” Sterling sneered, his chest heaving slightly with every beat of Liam’s heart.
“Marcus, show her what happens to people who try to bargain with me.”
Marcus stepped forward, cracking his knuckles with a menacing grin, raising his hand to strike me across the face.
I braced myself, closing my eyes—
CRASH.
The heavy double doors of the VIP suite burst open with explosive force.
Shouted orders and the sharp crack of suppressed gunfire echoed from the anteroom outside.
Marcus whipped around, drawing his submachine gun, but before he could raise it, a flash grenade sailed through the doorway and landed squarely on the carpet near the wet bar.
FLASH-BANG.
A blinding white light and a deafening shockwave detonated the room, sending Marcus and the other enforcers crashing to the floor, clutching their ears and screaming in disorientation.
Through the swirling smoke, a heavily armed tactical team wearing black ballistic gear and federal insignia swarmed into the suite.
At the front of the unit stood a tall, broad-shouldered man with ice-blue eyes and a scar across his jaw.
Agent Vance.
Not Thomas Barrett Vance—this was federal special agent Michael Vance, Liam’s eldest brother, who had spent the last four years operating deep inside the FBI’s anticorruption division while Liam and Thomas played their dangerous game in the shadows.
“Federal agents! Nobody move!” Michael roared, leveling his assault rifle straight at Marcus as federal marshals swarmed the room, zip-tying the groaning enforcers within seconds.
Sterling tried to sit up, his face contorted in panic as he reached for the emergency call button by his bed.
“Agent Vance… you can’t do this… I’m a protected donor… I’m recovering from major surgery…” Sterling choked out.
Michael walked slowly to the side of the hospital bed, looking down at the crime lord with absolute contempt.
“You’re under arrest, Ronald, for corporate extortion, murder, and racketeering,” Michael said coldly, snapping a pair of heavy steel handcuffs onto the metal bed rail around Sterling’s wrist.
“And as for your surgery… well, I hope your new heart appreciates its new home.”
I let out a long, ragged breath, my knees finally buckling under the overwhelming wave of exhaustion and relief.
Michael caught me by the elbow before I hit the floor, guiding me gently into one of the leather armchairs near the wet bar.
“You’re safe now, Clara,” Michael said, his voice softening.
May you like
“Thomas is downstairs in the emergency ward getting patched up by the trauma team. He’s going to be fine.”
I nodded, wiping a tear from my cheek as I looked over at Ronald Sterling, who was already clutching his chest, gasping for air as the heart monitors beside his bed began to emit a low, frantic warning beep.
