Chapter 8 - The Warrant
The glass doors of the fifty-fifth floor opened with a sharp hiss. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Hayes strode into the office like she owned the building. She was a striking woman in her late forties with sharp silver-streaked hair, an impeccably tailored charcoal pantsuit, and an expression of absolute, unyielding coldness. Two federal marshals flanked her, their hands resting uncomfortably close to their sidearms.
Gabriel didn't move. He stood in front of Khloe’s desk, placing his broad shoulders directly between the federal prosecutor and the young accountant.
"Catherine," Gabriel said, his voice dropping into a lethal, quiet register. "You're a long way from the Dirksen Federal Building. And you're trespassing without an appointment."
Catherine Hayes didn't even blink. Her cold blue eyes locked onto Gabriel before shifting past him to fix directly on Khloe. "Step aside, Mr. Moretti. I'm not here for you today." She pulled a folded document from her briefcase and snapped it open. "This is a federal warrant for the immediate detention and questioning of Chloe Jenkins regarding corporate wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and unauthorized access to classified DOJ databases."
Khloe’s breath hitched. She knows.
Before Gabriel could speak, Khloe stood up from her chair. Her knees felt weak, but her posture was rigid. She smoothed down the front of her navy blazer, lifting her chin.
"I haven't committed wire fraud, Ms. Hayes," Khloe said, her voice ringing clear and steady across the expansive office. "And if you're looking for unauthorized database access, you might want to check why Assistant U.S. Attorney credentials were used to ghost Arthur Pendleton into a safehouse six months ago."
Catherine Hayes's face didn't twitch, but a micro-expression of pure, unadulterated panic flickered across her eyes—gone in a fraction of a second, but not fast enough to miss.
"You're rambling, Ms. Jenkins," Hayes said sharply, stepping closer. "Marshal, cuff her."
One of the federal marshals stepped forward, reaching for his cuffs.
In a blur of motion, Matteo cleared the distance between them, his heavy hand clamping onto the marshal's wrist with bone-crushing force, stopping him cold. "Touch her and you won't leave this floor breathing," Matteo growled, his voice a low, menacing threat.
The second marshal unholstered his weapon, shouting, "Stand down! Federal agents!"
"Lower your weapon, Agent," Gabriel commanded. The single word carried such terrifying, absolute weight that the entire room seemed to freeze. Gabriel didn't yell; he didn't draw a gun. He simply looked at the armed federal agent with the cold, dead certainty of a predator who owned the ground they stood on.
Catherine Hayes glared at Gabriel, her composure finally beginning to crack around the edges. "You're harboring a fugitive, Moretti. This obstruction will add ten years to your RICO indictment."
"I'm not harboring anyone," Gabriel replied smoothly, taking a slow step forward until he towered over the prosecutor. "Chloe is an employee of my holding company. And as for your warrant..." Gabriel reached down to Khloe's desk, picked up the flash drive containing the encrypted safehouse logs, and tossed it casually onto the glass table between them. "...she hasn't accessed the DOJ server yet. But I have a copy of the exact file that proves which federal email address signed off on Pendleton's ghost cell. And it rhymes with Hayes."
The room went dead silent. You could hear the faint hum of the HVAC system overhead.
Catherine Hayes stared at the flash drive on the table. The color had completely drained from her face, leaving her skin chalk-white.
"You're bluffing," she whispered, her voice losing its steely edge.
May you like
"Open it," Gabriel invited softly, a dangerous smile touching his lips. "Or we can let a federal grand jury open it on Monday morning. Your choice, counselor."
---
