Chapter 11 - The Unseen Conspiracy
Agent Miller stopped talking, his hand instinctively dropping toward his holster as three unmarked black sedans tore past the smashed security gates, screeching to a halt at the base of the pier.
The doors flew open simultaneously, and half a dozen men in identical black tactical gear poured out, weapons raised. But they weren't federal agents, and they weren't local police. Their tactical vests bore no insignia—only a small, embossed silver serpent emblem on the left collar.
"Stay back!" Julian barked, instantly shoving Ethan and Lily behind his legs and raising his sidearm once more.
"Mr. Vance, lower your weapon! We are corporate security backup!" shouted the lead operative, keeping his rifle lowered toward the ground in a gesture of non-aggression, though his eyes scanned the surrounding perimeter with lethal intensity.
"I didn't call for backup. My security detail is already here," Julian said, his dark eyes narrowing as Marcus stepped up beside him with his rifle leveled at the newcomers.
The lead operative pulled down his tactical mask, revealing a scarred face and cold, calculating eyes. It was Vance Corporation's head of internal risk assessment, Thomas Vance—a distant cousin whom Julian had suspended from active duty six months ago for suspected insider trading.
"You didn't need to call us, Julian," Thomas said smoothly, his gaze sliding past Julian to look at the cargo ship behind them. "We monitored the telemetry data from Victor's personal keycard. We knew he was planning a hostile takeover of the shipping lanes. We came to ensure the company assets were protected."
"Protected?" Julian spat the word like poison. "My brother just tried to poison my seven-year-old son with cyanide, and you show up with a private strike team right as the federal agents arrive? That's not protection; that's cleanup."
Agent Miller stepped between them, his badge flashing in the pale morning light. "Hold on. Did you say cyanide? And who authorized an unverified private strike team inside a federal crime scene?"
Thomas didn't flinch. He met the federal agent's gaze with absolute, chilling confidence. "Agent Miller, the Vance empire operates under federal defense shipping contracts. Internal security protocols permit armed intervention during suspected acts of corporate terrorism. We were simply assisting Mr. Vance."
"You weren't assisting anyone," Julian said, stepping forward until he was towering over Thomas. "You were waiting for Victor and me to destroy each other so the board's entire voting block would fall into your hands by default."
Thomas's smile didn't reach his cold eyes. "Careful with your accusations, Julian. Without my team securing the perimeter data logs right now, those federal agents wouldn't even know about the offshore accounts Victor set up in the Cayman Islands."
Julian's phone suddenly buzzed violently in his tactical vest pocket. He pulled it out with one hand while keeping his gun hand steady. The screen displayed an emergency decrypted alert from his home security server.
ALERT: Perimeter breach detected at the primary Vance Estate. Secondary vault accessed.
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Julian froze, the blood running cold in his veins. The attack at the wedding wasn't just Victor's desperate gamble—it was a diversion.
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