Chapter 6 - The Federal Arrest
The FBI agent did not wait for permission to speak.
"I am Special Agent Thomas Vance, and I have a federal warrant for the immediate arrest of Claire Cross."
The entire courtroom erupted into absolute chaos.
The judge slammed his gavel repeatedly, demanding order in his court.
"On what charges, Agent Vance?" the judge shouted over the noise.
The agent held up a sealed manila envelope.
"Espionage and the unauthorized distribution of classified defense technology."
My knees suddenly felt weak.
I looked at Ryan, who was doing a terrible job of hiding a triumphant smile.
He had not just framed me for stolen valor and mental illness.
He had used the shell companies to sell our father's military tech and planted the evidence on me.
Mister Hayes stepped in front of me to block the federal agent.
"You cannot arrest her in the middle of a civil trial without presenting that evidence to the court."
Agent Vance simply shoved my attorney aside.
"Federal jurisdiction supersedes this local civil dispute," the agent stated coldly.
Two more armed agents entered the room and grabbed my arms tightly.
They pulled my hands behind my back and locked heavy steel handcuffs around my wrists.
The cold metal bit sharply into my skin.
My mother watched me being treated like a dangerous terrorist with a look of total satisfaction.
"She always was a broken, deceitful child," Evelyn loudly whispered to the prosecutor.
Ethan stepped forward from the gallery, his face dark with silent rage.
"Agent, you are making a catastrophic mistake," Ethan warned him.
The FBI agent glared at the scarred veteran.
"Step back, sir, or you will be arrested for interfering with a federal investigation."
Ethan stopped, knowing that fighting federal agents in a courtroom would doom us both.
They dragged me down the center aisle, past the staring jurors and the clicking cameras of journalists.
I was shoved into the back of a heavily armored federal transport van parked outside the courthouse.
Agent Vance climbed into the front passenger seat and slammed the door shut.
"Drive," he ordered the man behind the wheel.
The heavy van accelerated away from the courthouse, plunging me into complete darkness.
I sat in the metal cage, realizing that Ryan had successfully stolen my father's entire legacy.
He had eliminated the only person who could stop him from selling military secrets to our enemies.
The van drove for twenty minutes before the engine suddenly died.
The vehicle violently swerved to a halt in the middle of a deserted highway.
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I heard the sound of heavy boots hitting the pavement outside.
Then, the rear doors of the transport van were ripped entirely off their hinges.
