Chapter 5 - THE RESCUE AND THE REVELATIONBriar didn't snarl. He didn't snap. He simply pinned Marcus Vance to the floor with twelve stone of dead weight, planting his heavy paw squarely across the security chief’s chest, his hot breath hovering inches from Marcus’s terrified face.
Naomi flicked on her heavy-duty industrial flashlight, blinding Marcus with a searing beam of white light.
"Good boy, Briar," Naomi praised quietly, stepping forward and kicking the pistol away across the floor. She reached down, snatched Marcus’s secure master-key card from his breast pocket, and yanked his encrypted tactical radio off his belt.
"You... you crazy bitch," Marcus choked out, struggling beneath the dog’s immense weight. "The boss will have you skinned alive!"
"Let him try," Naomi said coldly. She pressed the broadcast button on Marcus’s radio, transmitting his panic-stricken voice across the entire estate’s security network. "All security units, report to the tack room. We have an intruder tampering with evidence."
Within seconds, the heavy boot-steps of loyal Croft guards echoed across the yard. But before Edmund’s private mercenaries could mobilize, Julian Croft himself burst through the door, flanked by four armed personal bodyguards, his face dark with lethal fury.
Julian looked down at Marcus pinned beneath Briar, then at Naomi standing calmly beside the workbench holding the microscopic evidence.
"Explain," Julian commanded, his voice dropping an octave into the terrifying tone that made international cartel bosses sweat.
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"Marcus and Edmund staged the bite," Naomi stated clearly, tossing the scrap of red nylon onto Julian’s palm. "They used an Aegis tactical cord to rip Edmund's sleeve, planted a hidden surveillance camera in the isolation kennel, and planned to use the trustee vote at noon to seize control of your guardianship rights and your shipping assets."
Julian stared down at the nylon fiber in his hand. Slowly, a terrifying, predatory smile spread across his face—the smile of a man who had built an empire on blood and absolute control.
