Chapter 6 - The Hostage Ultimatum
Agent Vance helped me sit up on a nearby chair as the chemical stimulant rapidly brought my strength back.
He quickly explained that he was the primary federal handler who had been working directly with Ethan.
The cartel had somehow discovered his true identity and taken his pregnant wife hostage to force a terrible trade.
Brandon had sent Vance a chilling video message demanding the silver flash drive in exchange for her life.
I felt a sickening wave of guilt wash over me, realizing how many innocent people were suffering because of my family.
I pointed toward the floor ventilation grate and told the agent exactly where I had hidden the device.
His tactical team quickly pried the metal grate open and successfully retrieved the priceless evidence.
Vance plugged the drive into his secure laptop and instantly initiated a massive, encrypted data transfer to the FBI servers.
He told me that the entire cartel's financial network would be permanently frozen and dismantled within the hour.
However, we still needed to physically rescue his innocent wife from the monsters holding her captive.
Vance handed me a lightweight bulletproof vest and a compact pistol, ordering me to stay close behind him.
I strapped the armor across my chest, completely transforming my grief into a cold, unstoppable fury.
We climbed into an armored federal transport vehicle and sped toward an abandoned shipping warehouse by the docks.
Vance explained that Brandon and my parents were currently hiding there, waiting for the hostage exchange.
We arrived at the desolate industrial park just as a massive thunderstorm began to break over the city skyline.
The tactical team silently surrounded the massive warehouse, cutting the main power lines to plunge the building into darkness.
Vance and I breached the side entrance door, utilizing advanced night vision goggles to navigate the pitch-black corridors.
We crept onto an elevated metal catwalk that offered a perfect view of the entire shipping floor below.
I could see Agent Vance's wife tied securely to a wooden chair in the exact center of the vast concrete floor.
My mother was casually pacing back and forth in front of her, sipping wine from a stolen crystal glass.
My father was nervously chewing on a cigar while Brandon aggressively checked the magazine of his assault rifle.
I raised my compact pistol and aimed it directly at the woman who had birthed me, completely ready to pull the trigger.
Before I could fire, the massive warehouse bay doors violently exploded inward with a deafening crash.
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Three black cartel vans sped into the building, completely heavily armed mercenaries pouring out of the back.
The cartel boss had arrived, and he was not here to negotiate with my pathetic brother.
