Chapter 9 - The Pivot Strategy
I stared down at the black screen of my phone.
Walking out into the open with the folder meant handing over the only leverage I had, trusting a man who had already faked his death, framed his son-in-law, and terrorized a seven-year-old child to keep his word.
That wasn't a negotiation. That was an execution.
I didn't leave my phone on the ground. Instead, I quickly tapped the screen, opening a secure encrypted VoIP application, and dialed a direct, highly classified number I hadn't used since my days consulting for private federal defense audits.
It picked up on the second ring.
"Vance," a sharp, flat voice answered.
"Marcus," I said, keeping my voice low and urgent. "I need an asset tracking ping executed on a cellular relay in the Greenwich harbor district, slip three. And I need a tactical interdiction team deployed to secure a minor child inside a parked SUV within three minutes."
Marcus didn't waste breath asking questions. "Asset verified. Interdiction team is already in the sector on a routine maritime sweep. Give us sixty seconds to position the cutters behind the pier. Do not engage the target directly until the perimeter is locked."
"Understood," I whispered, sliding the phone into my inner pocket and checking the weight of the heavy iron wrench I had grabbed from the Range Rover's toolkit.
Sixty seconds. I just needed to buy sixty seconds.
May you like
I stepped out from behind the shipping containers, holding the manila folder conspicuously in my right hand, walking straight down the center of the concrete pier toward Wendy’s idling SUV.
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