Chapter 8 - The Hostage
The ballroom descended into absolute chaos as people scrambled for the exits.
Viktor’s men drew their weapons, creating a tense standoff in the center of the room.
"Nobody move!" Brendan screamed, his eyes wide with desperate madness.
He dragged Samantha backward toward the service elevator.
Samantha was surprisingly calm for a woman with a gun pressed to her head.
"You are making a massive mistake, Brendan," Samantha said smoothly.
"Transfer my company back to me right now, Nora, or I will blow her brains out!" Brendan demanded.
I stood completely still on the stage, using every ounce of my actuarial training to calculate the risk.
Brendan was a coward, but a cornered coward with a gun was incredibly dangerous.
"She isn't who you think she is, Brendan," I told him calmly.
Brendan laughed hysterically, his hand shaking violently against Samantha's head.
"I know she's my only ticket out of this city!" he yelled.
I shook my head slowly.
"She is an FBI informant," I revealed loudly.
Brendan froze, the horrifying truth slowly sinking into his panicked brain.
He looked at Samantha, searching her face for a denial that never came.
"You set me up?" Brendan whispered, his grip on her slightly loosening.
In that microscopic moment of hesitation, Samantha proved exactly how highly trained she really was.
She dropped her weight instantly, breaking his hold on her hair.
She spun around, grabbed Brendan’s wrist, and twisted it violently until the bone snapped.
Brendan screamed in agony and dropped the weapon to the floor.
Samantha kicked the gun away and pinned him to the ground with a professional submission hold.
"Federal agent, you are under arrest," Samantha declared triumphantly.
The ballroom doors burst open, and dozens of heavily armed FBI agents flooded into the room.
They swarmed the stage, securing Brendan in heavy steel handcuffs.
Samantha stood up, brushing the dust off her expensive evening gown.
She looked at me with a smug, arrogant smile.
"Thanks for the distraction, Nora," she said confidently.
"I've got everything I need to put him away, and the FBI will be seizing the Fairchild assets tomorrow."
She thought she had completely outsmarted me and won the ultimate prize.
But I smiled back at her, feeling no fear at all.
"You can't seize the assets, Agent Hayes," I replied calmly.
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"Because they don't belong to the Fairchilds anymore."
Before Samantha could respond, the lights in the ballroom suddenly went completely dark.
