Chapter 6 - The Tiger by the TailSilence fell over the grand foyer, broken only by the steady patter of rain pouring through the shattered skylights and the hum of the Suburban’s idling engine.
Sarah Vance didn’t even flinch as Marcus’s body hit the floor. She simply adjusted her grip on her rifle and looked at Austin with an eerie, detached calm.
“You can kill me, Austin,” Sarah said softly, tilting her head. “You can put a bullet right between my eyes. But if you do, the dead-man's switch connected to my private terminal will automatically transmit every single transaction, bribe, and name—including your father’s old criminal syndicate accounts—to every major news network in the country within sixty seconds. Your name, your empire, your legacy, and Jacey... will all burn to ash.”
Austin looked at her. Really looked at her.
For the first time in his life, he wasn't looking at an enemy he could shoot or a problem he could bribe away. He was looking at checkmate.
“You think I care about the empire?” Austin asked quietly. “You think money or legacy means a damn thing to me?”
“You care about the girl,” Sarah replied, her eyes narrowing with absolute confidence. “And you care about keeping her safe. If the federal government finds out you’ve been harboring a key witness in a multi-million-dollar corruption scandal while running an underground syndicate out of Boston, they won't just lock you away. They’ll put Jacey into the state foster care system. She’ll be handed over to social services, tracked by my father’s remaining loyalists, and hunted until there’s nothing left of her.”
Austin slowly lowered his pistol.
The weight of the last six years pressed down on his shoulders like a physical mountain. He had spent his entire adult life trying to outrun his father’s sins, only to realize that the cage was built long before he was even born.
“What do you want, Sarah?” Austin asked, his voice dead and hollow.
“Simple,” Sarah smiled, stepping closer until she was standing just inches from him, the scent of gunpowder and rain washing over them. “You hand over the flash drive. You take Jacey and disappear tonight on that speedboat in the boathouse. You go to a place where extradition doesn't exist, and you never, ever return to the United States.”
“And you?” Austin raised an eyebrow. “You walk away clean? Senator’s daughter, hero of the justice system?”
“I become the new Attorney General,” Sarah said smoothly. “My father takes an early retirement for health reasons. The system cleans itself, and the world keeps spinning.”
Austin stared at her for a long, agonizing moment. Then, slowly, he reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a small, black USB drive.
May you like
Sarah’s eyes lit up with predatory triumph. She reached out her hand to take it.
“Not so fast,” Austin said, pulling it back just an inch. “Rule number one of dealing with the mob, Sarah: never trust a person who smiles while holding a gun.”
