Chapter 13 - The Trojan Horse
The trap was set for midnight.
Back at Victor’s apartment, the shattered front door had been temporarily reinforced with steel plates, and an elite perimeter guard provided by Julian’s network was stationed invisibly in the stairwells and rooftops.
Sophie sat in her newly decorated room, curled up under her pink blanket, clutching her rag doll, Lily. Victor sat on the edge of her bed, smoothing her messy blonde hair back from her forehead.
"Victor?" she asked softly, her blue eyes searching his face with an intuition that broke his heart. "Are the bad men coming back?"
"Not while I'm here, sweetheart," Victor promised, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "I'm going to step into the office for a few minutes to talk on the phone. But I'm right down the hall. Okay?"
"Okay," she whispered, smiling faintly. "Can we read The Polar Express later?"
"Cover to cover," Victor vowed.
He walked back into his study, closing the door halfway. Parker was standing by the window, monitoring a tactical tablet displaying thermal feeds of the street below.
"They're moving," Parker murmured quietly. "Three unmarked black vans just turned onto the block. Twelve operatives, heavily armed. They're bypassing the lobby and scaling the fire escape to the rear balcony."
"Let them in," Victor said, his voice entirely steady.
"Sir?"
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"Let them into the living room," Victor repeated, pulling a secure burner phone from his pocket. He dialed a pre-programmed number. "Director Vance? This is Victor Caldwell. The Syndicate extraction team is entering my residence at 742 Meridian Avenue. The geo-fence trap is active. You have your probable cause."
On the other end of the line, the federal cyber-crimes director didn't hesitate. "SWAT and federal marshals are three minutes out. Hold the line, Mr. Caldwell."
