Chapter 7 - THE SHADOW’S REVENGE
Three days later. Washington D.C.
The penthouse suit on the 50th floor of the Grand National Tower offered a panoramic view of the Capitol building. Inside, Senator Arthur Vance—a powerful political figure and the mastermind behind the privatization of secret black-site prisons—was pacing frantically across his mahogany-floored office.
On the massive wall-mounted television, news anchors were in a absolute frenzy.
"...the unprecedented data leak, dubbed 'The Blackwood Files,' has triggered federal arrest warrants for over forty high-ranking government officials, including judges, defense contractors, and corporate CEOs..."
"Turn it off!" Senator Vance screamed at his assistant, throwing his crystal whiskey glass against the wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces. "TURN IT OFF!"
The assistant frantically turned off the screen.
Beside the desk stood three elite private security guards, armed with suppressed automatic pistols, their eyes scanning every doorway and window.
"How did she do it?!" Vance roared, his face red with rage. "Sterling had her locked in a deep-underground pit! She was disavowed! She had no support network! How did one woman destroy a twenty-billion-dollar operation in seventy-two hours?!"
"Senator, we need to move you to the safehouse immediately," the head of security said, checking his tactical watch. "The FBI is already drafting your arrest warrant. We have an unmarked helicopter waiting on the helipad on the roof."
"Fine! Let's go!" Vance yelled, grabbing his coat.
Suddenly, all the lights in the penthouse blinked twice and went pitch black.
The massive floor-to-ceiling windows groaned as the building's central air conditioning and power grid completely shut down.
"Protection detail! Form a perimeter!" the security chief barked, pulling out his night-vision goggles.
The guards immediately formed a tight circle around the Senator, pointing their weapons toward the darkness.
THUD.
A soft, almost imperceptible sound came from the corner of the room.
"What was that?!" Vance whimpered, hiding behind his guards.
SWISH! BANG!
A flash of blue light illuminated the room for a split second. The guard on the right was snatched into the shadows so fast he didn't even have time to scream. The sound of a heavy blow echoed, followed by the metallic click of his weapon falling to the floor.
"CONTACT LEFT!" the security chief screamed, opening fire into the dark corners. TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK!
The muzzle flashes illuminated a horrifying sight: the second guard was already hanging upside down from the high ceiling rafters, completely unconscious.
Before the chief could adjust his aim, a ghost-like shadow slid down from the darkness above.
A hand reached out, grabbed the chief's night-vision goggles, twisted them sideways, and delivered a precise Palm strike to his chin. The chief dropped like a heavy sack of concrete, unconscious before he touched the ground.
Total silence returned to the room.
Senator Vance fell backward onto his leather sofa, trembling uncontrollably, pulling a small silver revolver from his pocket with shaking hands.
"Stay back! I'm a United States Senator!" Vance shrieked into the pitch-black room. "I made you! I authorized your training! I own you, Maya!"
A soft click echoed in the darkness. The backup emergency red emergency lighting slowly hummed to life, bathing the penthouse in a sinister blood-red glow.
Standing right in front of the sofa was Maya.
She was wearing a sleek black tactical turtleneck, dark pants, and combat boots. Her hair was tied back, and the tattoos on her neck were glowing under the ambient red lights. She held no weapons. She didn't need any.
"Hello, Uncle Arthur," Maya said, her voice smooth, calm, and utterly terrifying.
Senator Vance’s eyes dilated in pure horror.
"Maya... please..." Vance stammered, his revolver shaking violently in his hand. "You're my niece! We're family! I put you in that prison to protect you from the syndicate! I had to fake your death!"
"Lies," Maya whispered, taking a slow step forward. "You put me in Blackwood because I found out you were using the inmates for illegal pharmacological testing and human trafficking. You tried to have me erased because I wouldn't take your blood money."
"I can make you rich! I have three hundred million dollars in an offshore account in Grand Cayman!" Vance pleaded, sweating through his expensive silk shirt. "It's yours! All of it! Just let me get on that helicopter!"
Maya stopped right in front of him. She reached out her index finger and gently tapped the barrel of Vance's revolver, pushing it down toward the floor.
Vance didn't even have the courage to pull the trigger.
"You don't understand, Arthur," Maya said softly, bending down until her cold blue eyes were mere inches from his terrified face. "I don't want your money. I took everything you owned twenty minutes ago."
Vance’s phone on the desk buzzed violently.
A notification flashed on the screen: ALERT: ALL ACCOUNTS DRAINED. TOTAL BALANCE: $0.00. FUNDS TRANSFERRED TO THE BLACKWOOD SURVIVORS RECOVERY FUND.
Vance gasped, clutching his chest, feeling his heart wildly misfiring. "You... you ruined me..."
"No," Maya replied coldly. "I just balanced the ledger."
Behind them, the heavy reinforced doors of the penthouse were blown open with a loud breach charge.
BOOM!
A tactical FBI SWAT team poured into the room, lasers crisscrossing the smoke.
"FEDERAL AGENTS! HANDS IN THE AIR! DON'T MOVE!"
Senator Vance fell to his knees, sobbing, holding his hands up, completely broken. "Save me! Arrest me! Just keep her away from me!"
The SWAT leader pointed his rifle toward the center of the room where Maya had been standing a second ago.
The room was completely empty.
May you like
The heavy floor-to-ceiling glass window behind the sofa was shattered, a single high-tensile rappelling cable swinging gently in the cold night wind outside.
Maya was gone. Like a phantom fading into the night.
