Chapter 4 - The Rat Flees the ShipThe panic room couldn't save him, and neither could his millions. By 4:00 PM, the federal net had tightened so completely that Victor’s corporate empire was reduced to rubble. Share prices of Hale Enterprises plummeted by 84% within twenty minutes of the SEC freezing their trading assets. Board members were publicly resigning by the minute, desperate to distance themselves from the impending indictments.
In my study, Director Thomas Vance appeared via secure video link on my desktop monitor.
"Your Honor, we've secured the primary downtown penthouse," Thomas reported, a grim satisfaction in his voice. "We breached the panic room fifteen minutes ago. But we found a complication."
My eyes narrowed. "Define complication."
"Victor isn't there," Thomas said, holding up a heavy steel keycard and a bloodstained cufflink. "He anticipated the breach. He used a subterranean maintenance tunnel connected to the city’s old storm drainage system—part of the infrastructure projects his company contracted years ago. He’s on the run."
Sophia, standing nearby, gasped and grabbed the edge of the desk. "The storm drains? Beneath the financial district? Mom, he knows every hidden exit in the city. If he gets to his private airstrip—"
"He won't make it to the airstrip," I interrupted, my mind racing through every possible escape route Victor could take. "Thomas, seal every federal highway exit within a fifty-mile radius. Notify the Coast Guard; lock down the private marinas. He thinks he can crawl through the filth like the rat he is."
"We have teams sweeping the drainage tunnels now," Thomas replied, "but it's a labyrinth down there. Miles of concrete catacombs beneath the city. He could pop up anywhere."
I stood up, buttoning my blazer, and picked up my leather gloves from the side table.
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"Where are you going, Mom?" Sophia asked, her voice laced with panic.
"To finish this," I said quietly. "Victor wants to play games in the dark? Let's see how he handles the light."
