Chapter 4 - The Bait and the SwitchThe threat hung in the air like poison. Silence gripped the penthouse conference room. Vane thought he held all the cards. He believed he was dealing with a terrified twenty-six-year-old girl who would fold under pressure to save the man who had rescued her.
He didn't realize that the girl he tried to burn twenty years ago had just forged herself into steel.
"He thinks I'll come crawling to the courthouse alone with the ledgers," I said, breaking the silence with a cold, calculating calm that surprised even myself.
"And you aren't going," Adrien stated firmly, his jaw set in a hard, uncompromising line. "I will not use you as bait for a corrupt federal judge."
"I am not playing bait, Adrien. I am playing the ace," I countered, walking over to the conference table and pulling up the digital blueprint of the federal courthouse on the central display. "Vane wants the ledgers because they are the only physical proof linking his blind trust to the 1999 embezzlement. But what he doesn't know is that two hours ago, while your men were securing the safehouse, I uploaded encrypted copies of every single document to an un-hackable offshore server with a dead-man’s switch set to release to the New York Times and the FBI field office if my biometric signal flatlines."
Adrien stared at me, his dark eyes wide with astonishment before a low, deep rumble of laughter escaped his chest. "You uploaded the files? When?"
"While you were arguing with Salvatore about logistics," I smiled faintly. "Rule number one of surviving in my family: never trust a man with a ledger, and always back up your data."
Salvatore burst out laughing, slamming his hand on the table. "I like her, Boss. Marry her twice."
Adrien shot Salvatore a warning glare, though the corner of his mouth twitched upward. He turned back to me, his expression turning deadly serious. "If Vane thinks he has the upper hand, we give him what he wants—a meeting. But on our terms."
May you like
"The abandoned shipping piers in Red Hook," I suggested instantly. "It’s where the Maren conglomerate used to dock its cargo ships before Vane seized them. It’s poetic. And it’s the one place where your men can control every entry and exit without local law enforcement interference."
"Done," Adrien agreed. "We set the trap for tonight at midnight."
