Chapter 9 - The Devil's Bargain
Dante stared at the smoking black screen of the laptop until the plastic casing cooled.
“Pier 44,” Leo muttered, stepping up behind Dante and looking down at the ruined hardware. “Boss, it’s a trap. The dry docks have been abandoned for five years. It’s a concrete maze. He’ll have snipers on every crane.”
“I know it’s a trap,” Dante said quietly, his voice dangerously calm. He slid his Sig Sauer back into his shoulder holster.
“You can’t go in there alone. Let me mobilize the crews. We can flank the docks from the water side—”
“No,” Dante interrupted, turning to face his enforcer. “Marcus didn't take Harper because he wants to execute her. He took her because she’s the only civilian who knows the secondary encryption keys to the offshore accounts holding the Vane family’s stolen capital. If I bring an army, he kills her before we clear the perimeter. I go alone.”
Leo’s face hardened with stubborn loyalty. “Boss, I’ve bled for you through three turf wars. I’m not letting you walk into a firing squad by yourself.”
“You aren't walking in with me, Leo,” Dante corrected, pulling a small, encrypted burner phone from his coat pocket and sliding it across the metal tray. “You’re going to do something much more important. You’re going to contact the federal prosecutor’s office—the one handling the Vane asset recovery.”
Leo blinked in shock. “The feds? Boss, since when do we call the government?”
“Since Marcus Vane decided to resurrect a war the feds thought they finished seven years ago,” Dante said, his eyes narrowing. “Tell them that the missing Vane capital isn't hidden in a Swiss bank. It’s being transferred right now through a temporary proxy server at Pier 44. Give them the coordinates. Let the federal tactical teams surround the dry docks twenty minutes after I walk through those gates.”
Leo stared at him for a long moment, realization dawning in his eyes. “You’re using the feds as your cleanup crew.”
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“I’m using them as a hammer,” Dante corrected, turning toward the exit. “Keep your phone on speaker. When I walk through the dry dock doors, you start the clock.”
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