Chapter 8 - The Counter-Strike
The prosecutor’s smug expression didn't vanish immediately, but it faltered the second one of his junior investigators pulled a laptop forward, plugged in the flash drive, and began scrolling through the data packets.
Inside of sixty seconds, the color drained completely from the prosecutor's face.
"Where... where did you get this?" the Assistant U.S. Attorney stammered, leaning over the screen as lines of encrypted code, IP routing maps, and remote login timestamps filled the display. "This server traffic shows master credentials being accessed from an external IP address registered to Vance & Sterling LLC."
"It shows that my client's admin profile was hacked and duplicated by Arthur Vance's corporate legal team six months ago, with the explicit collaboration of executive staff inside Vale Meridian," Margaret said, her voice ringing with absolute triumph. "Which means every single document bearing my client's forged signature is not just invalid—it's part of an ongoing federal racketeering enterprise orchestrated by Arthur Vance himself."
The prosecutor swallowed hard, suddenly realizing he had walked straight into a legal bear trap. "If this data is authentic..."
"It's fully encrypted and cryptographically signed by the primary server supervisor, who is ready to testify under oath," I interrupted, leaning forward across the metal table so the harsh overhead light caught my eyes. "So here is your new reality, Counselor. You can either proceed with an indictment against an innocent compliance officer and watch your entire case get torn apart in a federal appeals court by noon tomorrow... or you can take this flash drive, execute emergency search warrants on Arthur Vance’s primary offices, and arrest the man who actually stole Harbor Nine."
The room was dead silent save for the hum of the fluorescent light.
May you like
The prosecutor looked down at the flash drive, then up at me, realizing he had just been outmaneuvered by the very woman he thought he was going to destroy.
"Agent," the prosecutor barked, standing up abruptly and motioning to the door. "Get a tactical team assembled. We're executing a raid on Vance & Sterling."
