Chapter 16 - Tactical Descent
A heavy tactical rope dropped through the broken skylight, followed instantly by Detective Marcus Vance and a heavily armed SWAT team sliding rapidly onto the mezzanine floor. Julian spun around in shock, his thumb slipping off the detonator toggle as chaos erupted around him.
"Drop the weapon! Federal agents!" Marcus roared, leveling his assault rifle straight at Julian's chest.
Julian cursed viciously, lunging toward the side balcony door, but Liam was already moving. With explosive speed, Liam vaulted over the kitchen counter, intercepted Julian halfway across the floor, and tackled him hard against the brick accent wall. The detonator flew out of Julian's hand, skidding across the hardwood floor before Marcus scooped it up and deactivated the frequency.
"It's over, Julian. Game over," Liam panted, pinning Julian's arm behind his back as two SWAT officers stepped in, snapping heavy steel cuffs around the fugitive's wrists.
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Julian glared up with venomous hatred as they dragged him toward the service exit. "You may have won today, Liam, but the Sterling empire is already rotting from the inside. You'll never recover the offshore funds!"
"We don't need to," Clara said, stepping forward with a triumphant smile as she held up the encrypted flash drive she had discreetly retrieved from Julian's coat pocket during the scuffle. "Your offshore accounts require biometric authentication. And guess whose thumbprint is registered as the primary master key? Mine."
