Chapter 9 - THE ULTIMATE SHADOWBefore Isaac could react, the entire utility van shuddered violently as an automated internal charge blew the front engine block apart, sending a massive gout of flame shooting out from beneath the hood.
The woman lunged backward out of the opposite side door into the dense brush of the ravine, disappearing into the pitch-black darkness like smoke caught in a gale-force wind.
Isaac dove out of the main doorway just as the rear cargo area of the van erupted in a wall of fire, sending shrapnel whistling through the air and lighting up the entire cul-de-sac in a brilliant orange glow.
He hit the asphalt, rolled smoothly to his feet, and swept the tree line with his weapon raised, but the ravine was completely silent. She was gone.
A moment later, a heavily armored tactical transport vehicle roared up the street, screeching to a halt beside him. The door flew open, and the Sergeant Major hopped out, rifle at the ready.
"Colonel! Are you alright? We heard the explosion!"
"She's gone," Isaac said, lowering his weapon slowly as he watched the utility van burn itself down to a smoking skeleton of charred metal. "She tripped the automated purge and vanished into the ravine."
"We can deploy tracking drones, sir. Thermal imaging will pick up her heat signature within a three-mile radius."
Isaac shook his head, reaching slowly into his tactical vest pocket and pulling out the small black flash drive he had retrieved from the server terminal just moments before it blew.
"No need," Isaac replied, a grim, determined smile touching the corners of his mouth. "She thought she was leaving us with nothing. But she gave us the exact key we needed to tear the entire Vanguard Consortium down from the top."
He held up the flash drive in the flickering orange light of the burning van.
"Every name, every account, every politician, and every shell corporation is right here on this drive."
The Sergeant Major nodded approvingly, tapping his communications headset. "Shall we initiate transport for the primary prisoners back to the federal holding facility, sir?"
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"Yes," Isaac said, turning his gaze back down the street toward the staging area where Hannah was resting safely inside the medical transport. "And notify the Department of Justice, the Pentagon's internal security division, and the federal prosecutor's office. Tell them Colonel Vance is coming in with a full report."
"Copy that, Colonel."
