Chapter 8 - The Interrogation
The sharp crack of a suppressed round echoed faintly through the thick timber walls, followed by the heavy thud of boots on the wooden porch. I held my breath, one hand clamped gently over Eli's mouth to keep him from startling, while my other hand gripped the heavy steel frame of my sidearm resting on the cot beside me.
The heavy iron door swung inward with a groan. Mason stepped through first, his breathing heavy, dragging a heavily armored operative by the collar of a tactical vest. Gabriel followed close behind, closing the door and throwing the deadbolt with a resounding metallic crash.
Mason shoved the captive hard against the wooden table. The man stumbled, gasping for air, his face obscured by a black neoprene balaclava. Gabriel reached out, grabbing the fabric and ripping it downward to reveal a pale, sweating face with a jagged scar running along the jawline.
"Vance," Gabriel said, his voice dropping into an arctic register that made the hair on my arms stand up. "I thought you were running the European logistics desk in Geneva."
Vance spat a glob of blood onto the floorboards, sneering through cracked lips. "You're too late, Kane. The restructuring papers were filed at midnight. By morning, the board will vote in the new interim chair, and the boy's trust will be dissolved into holdings you can't touch."
I pushed myself off the cot, walking slowly toward the table despite the sharp twinge in my side. "Who signed the authorization?" I asked, my voice flat and emotionless. "A proxy can't move that much capital without a primary signature."
Vance glared at me, his eyes filled with venom. "And why would I tell a broken-down security guard anything?"
Gabriel stepped into Vance's personal space, towering over the captive with an expression of pure, concentrated fury. He didn't raise his voice, but every word carried the weight of an executioner's axe. "Because if you don't give me the name right now, I'm going to turn you over to Mason, and Mason isn't nearly as patient as I am."
Vance swallowed hard, his bravado cracking as he looked into Gabriel's dark, unblinking eyes. "It was... it was Marcus Sterling. Senior legal counsel. He promised us immunity and double shares once the merger cleared."
Gabriel straightened up slowly, the tension in his shoulders shifting from immediate combat readiness to a cold, calculated strategy. He looked over at Mason. "Tie him up and secure him in the root cellar. We're heading back to the city."
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"The city?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sterling has the entire legal department locked down. If we walk into the tower without a paper trail, we'll be arrested before we reach the elevators."
"We aren't going in through the front doors," Gabriel said, a faint, dangerous smile touching the corners of his mouth. "We're going in through the shareholder assembly."
