Chapter 55 - The Final Reckoning
The high-speed pursuit down the Hudson River was a masterclass in tactical evasion. Dominic cut the throttle, letting the skiff slide into the dense, twisting labyrinth of shallow marshes and reed-choked islands just north of Kingston, where the larger, heavier corporate speedboats dared not follow without running aground.
The black pursuit boats slowed to a crawl, their propellers churning up mud as their operators struggled to navigate the treacherous shallows.
"They're stuck!" Julianna yelled triumphantly, watching the corporate enforcers trapped in the marsh behind them. "We've shaken them!"
"Not yet," Dominic said, keeping his eyes fixed on the wider channel ahead where the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge loomed against the skyline. "We need a extraction point where federal jurisdiction doesn't apply."
"Head for the Coast Guard auxiliary pier just south of the lighthouse," Alistair suggested calmly, pointing toward a low stone dock flying the American flag. "I made a few discreet phone calls to an old friend in the Department of Justice’s civil rights division while we were in Montreal. They've been waiting for Arthur Sterling Jr. to violate federal wiretap and civil injunction laws for three days."
Ten minutes later, the aluminum skiff slid smoothly against the wooden pilings of the Coast Guard pier. Waiting for them on the dock were two federal marshals in standard uniform, accompanied by an older, distinguished woman in a tailored navy suit holding an official Department of Justice warrant folder.
As Dominic stepped ashore and helped Casey up onto the pier, the woman in the navy suit walked forward, her expression stern but respectful.
"Mr. Russo, Dr. Miller," the woman said, flashing an official badge. "I am Special Agent-in-Charge Sarah Vance—no relation to Alistair, I assure you. My division has been monitoring Arthur Sterling Jr.'s illegal surveillance operations since dawn. Based on the encrypted data archives your associate transmitted to our servers twenty minutes ago, federal agents have just executed a search and arrest warrant at Sterling's Boston investment firm."
Arthur Jr.'s private security team, having finally worked their way out of the marsh, rounded the river point in their speedboats—only to find themselves immediately intercepted by two armed Coast Guard patrol vessels waiting in the main channel.
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Julianna handed the encrypted solid-state drives and black leather-bound ledgers directly to Special Agent Vance. "The complete institutional chain of custody, from nineteen-fifty-four to today. Every routing code, every shell corporation, every political payoff."
Agent Vance accepted the drives with a firm nod. "It's over. The syndicate's financial infrastructure has been permanently dismantled."
