Chapter 2 - The Federal Audit
Emily stared at the photograph until her vision blurred.
Her younger brother Leo was her entire world.
She had tolerated the mafia, the blood, and the terror simply to keep him safe.
Now the violence had followed her home.
She immediately reached for the phone to dial the facility's security office.
A heavy hand suddenly slammed down onto her desk and disconnected the call.
Emily gasped and looked up.
A man in a cheap gray suit was standing over her.
He held up a gold badge that read Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"I would not make that call if I were you, Miss Davies," the agent said.
"Who are you?" Emily demanded, her voice shaking with rage.
"Special Agent Miller," he replied smoothly.
"I am the auditor scheduled to review your shipping logs downstairs."
Emily quickly glanced toward Dante's closed oak doors.
"If you are FBI, you are standing in a very dangerous room," she warned him.
"I am not here for Dante Marino," Miller smiled coldly.
"I am here for you."
He pulled a physical copy of the sniper photograph from his jacket pocket and dropped it on her keyboard.
"Your boss just gave you access to the syndicate's master ledgers," Miller stated.
"How do you know that?" Emily whispered in horror.
"We have ears inside that room," Miller replied.
"I need you to download the offshore routing numbers onto this encrypted flash drive."
He tossed a small black USB drive onto her desk.
"If I do that, Dante will kill me," Emily said.
"If you do not do that, my sniper will pull the trigger in exactly sixty seconds," Miller countered.
He tapped his wristwatch.
"Fifty-five seconds now."
Emily felt a cold sweat break out across her neck.
She was trapped between a ruthless mafia don and a corrupt federal agent.
She grabbed the black flash drive and jammed it into her computer port.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she bypassed the primary firewalls.
She initiated the file transfer and watched the progress bar slowly crawl forward.
"Thirty seconds," Miller whispered, stepping closer to her chair.
Emily's mind raced frantically for a way out.
She remembered the staple gun sitting in her top drawer.
The progress bar hit ninety percent.
"Ten seconds," Miller smiled.
The transfer completed with a soft chime.
Emily grabbed the flash drive and held it up.
As Miller reached for it, she yanked open her drawer and grabbed the industrial staple gun.
She drove the heavy metal tool directly into the back of Miller's hand and pulled the trigger.
A heavy steel staple pierced completely through his skin and pinned his hand to the wooden desk.
Miller screamed in sheer agony.
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The heavy oak doors behind them flew open.
Dante Marino stepped out with his suppressed pistol drawn and aimed directly at the agent's head.
