Chapter 7 - The Hostage Exchange
The three black SUVs screeched to a violent halt, completely blocking the only exit from the abandoned shipyard.
More than a dozen heavily armed cartel enforcers poured out of the vehicles, their assault rifles raised and aimed directly at the two terrified women.
Skylar and Suzanne were entirely surrounded, trapped between the ruthless syndicate and the dark, freezing waters of the ocean.
A tall, impeccably dressed man stepped out of the lead vehicle, holding a large black umbrella to shield himself from the torrential rain.
He introduced himself as the regional director of the syndicate, speaking with a terrifyingly calm and polite tone.
He apologized for the chaotic mess Derek had created and assured Skylar that he only wanted to resolve this financial misunderstanding quickly.
The director proposed a very simple trade: the encrypted hard drives containing their money in exchange for their lives.
He promised that if Skylar handed over the bag, he would allow her and Suzanne to walk away without a single scratch.
Skylar looked at the circle of armed men and knew with absolute certainty that the polite director was lying through his teeth.
The moment they possessed the digital keys, she and Suzanne would be ruthlessly gunned down and dumped into the dark sea.
Derek, who had managed to crawl halfway across the concrete, suddenly yelled out to the syndicate boss in a desperate, pathetic voice.
He claimed that Skylar was completely bluffing, insisting that she had the hard drives hidden right there in her purse.
The director sighed heavily, looking at Derek with an expression of profound disappointment and pure disgust.
He signaled to one of his heavily armed men, who casually walked over and kicked Derek viciously in his wounded shoulder.
The director turned his attention back to Skylar, slowly drawing a gold-plated revolver from inside his tailored suit jacket.
He told her that his patience had officially run out, and he was giving her exactly three seconds to hand over the purse.
Skylar realized that she had absolutely no more tricks up her sleeve and nowhere left to run on the flooded docks.
She slowly took the purse off her shoulder, preparing to surrender her only leverage to the violent criminals.
Suddenly, the deafening roar of a massive marine engine echoed from the dark waters directly behind the shipping container.
A heavily armored Coast Guard interceptor boat smashed violently into the rotting wooden dock, sending splinters flying into the air.
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Federal agents armed with heavy tactical weapons surged off the vessel, screaming for the cartel members to drop their guns immediately.
But the cartel director did not surrender his weapon; instead, he grabbed Suzanne by the hair and pulled her against his chest as a human shield.
