Chapter 6 - The Jersey City Raid
Midnight at Pier 42 was a scene of industrial isolation. Rain poured from the pitch-black sky, hammering against rusty shipping containers and slick asphalt.
Agent Vance stood on the second-story catwalk of an abandoned warehouse, binoculars pressed to his eyes, staring out at the empty river. Thirty heavily armed SWAT officers crouched in the shadows around him, their submachine guns ready, their breath misting in the freezing rain.
"Where is the ship?" Vance muttered, checking his watch. It was 12:15 AM. "The ledger said the M.V. Corsica was docking at midnight."
"Boss," his comms officer whispered, adjusting his headset. "Coast Guard reports no vessel matching that registration has entered the harbor tonight. In fact... there are no ships scheduled for Pier 42 for the next three days."
Vance’s stomach dropped. A sudden, terrible realization began to creep over him like ice water pouring down his spine. "Check the camera feed from the nursery," he ordered sharply. "Now!"
The technician pulled up the live stream on a ruggedized tablet.
The screen flickered. The camera inside Daisy the doll was still online. But Victoria Hail wasn't in the nursery.
Instead, a small piece of white cardboard had been set up directly in front of the doll’s glass eye. Written on the cardboard in bold, black marker were three simple words:
GOOD EVENING, AGENT VANCE.
Vance dropped the tablet. It shattered against the steel catwalk. "It’s a setup!" he roared. "Pull everyone out! Return to headquarters immediately!"
At that exact moment, five miles away in Jersey City, a heavy black SUV rammed through the security gate of the Federal Law Enforcement Annex.
Before the two night-shift security guards could raise their sidearms, Marco and three elite Moretti enforcers stepped out of the vehicle, dazzle-light flashlights blinding the guards as they subdued them smoothly, binding their hands with zip-ties and setting them gently against the lobby wall.
Allesandro walked through the shattered glass doors, wearing a bespoke double-breasted coat, holding a sleek black hardware cloner in his hand.
He didn't waste time. He walked directly up the stairs to Vance’s corner office on the third floor.
Leo was right behind him with a portable field server. "I have local root access to Vance’s private terminal," Leo said, plugging a bypass cable into the back of the desktop computer. "Extracting all off-the-books files, audio recordings, and financial ledgers now."
"Find the medical authorization files," Allesandro said, standing by the window, watching the rain strike the glass.
"Found them!" Leo reported two minutes later, his eyes wide. "Boss... you won't believe this. Vance didn't just refuse to pay for Lily's treatment in Switzerland. He was actively blocking her application for the international medical grant! He was keeping her sick on purpose so he could maintain leverage over Elena!"
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Allesandro’s jaw clenched so tightly the muscles bulged along his face. The darkness in his soul reached a depth he hadn't felt in decades. "Copy everything, Leo. Every email, every forged document, every unauthorized wiretap log. Then wipe his hard drives down to the bare silicon."
"With pleasure, Boss."
