Chapter 10 - The Dawn of the Phantom
The grounds of the Sterling estate looked like a war zone. Dozens of heavily armored FBI vehicles were parked on the manicured lawns. Red and blue lights strobed across the cold granite walls of the citadel. Tactical teams were dragging private security contractors out of the mansion in handcuffs.
Beatrice collapsed onto the wet grass, gasping for air, her lungs burning, her clothes soaked and freezing.
"Over here! We need a medic!" a voice shouted.
Paramedics rushed toward her, wrapping a heavy thermal blanket around her shaking shoulders.
Beatrice watched as the front doors of the mansion were pushed open. Evelyn Sterling was led out in handcuffs, screaming obscenities, her pristine silk robes ruined by mud and rain. Shortly after, Damian was carried out on a stretcher, a massive bandage wrapped around his head, looking completely broken.
And finally, Arthur Sterling. He was dragged out by two massive FBI agents, soaked to the bone, his eyes wild and empty. He had failed to find the drive in the flood. His empire was dead.
"Are you Beatrice?"
A man in a trench coat crouched down beside her. He held up an FBI badge. "I'm Special Agent Vance. We received a message from a journalist in London. He said a woman named Beatrice was holding the key to bringing this cartel down."
Beatrice looked at the agent. Her hands were shaking violently from the adrenaline and the cold, but her mind was completely clear.
She reached into the inner lining of her wet apron. She hadn't thrown the real USB drive into the water. She had thrown a cheap, plastic piece of a broken pen she had kept in her pocket.
She pulled out the silver USB drive and placed it into Agent Vance’s hand.
"Everything is on there," Beatrice whispered, her voice hoarse but steady. "The human trafficking. The murders. The shell companies. Everything."
The agent looked at the drive with profound respect. "You just took down the biggest criminal syndicate on the Eastern Seaboard. You're a hero, Beatrice. We're going to put you in witness protection. You'll be safe."
"I don't need protection," Beatrice said, slowly pushing herself up to her feet. She let the heavy, wet apron fall to the grass, shedding the uniform of the invisible servant forever.
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The sun was just beginning to rise over the Atlantic Ocean, casting a brilliant, warm golden light over the cliffs. The severe citadel of steel and granite looked small now. It was no longer a terrifying fortress; it was just a crime scene.
Beatrice turned her back on the Sterling estate. She didn't look down at her shoes. She didn't hold her breath. She lifted her chin, looking directly at the rising sun, and walked away from the nightmare, finally stepping out of the shadows and into the light.
