Chapter 10 - The Shadow Purchaser
Back upstairs, the gunfire had ceased, replaced by the heavy boots of federal reinforcements securing the perimeter. Special Agent Martin rushed down the basement stairs, panting heavily, followed by two armed tactical officers.
“Colonel! Are you alright? The assault team broke through the tree line and fled in a chopper, but we captured one of their drivers.”
I stood up from the terminal, pulling the micro SD card safely from the port and sliding it deep into an inner pocket of my uniform.
“Forget the driver, Martin,” I said, my voice cold and lethal. “Look at the master routing table we just pulled.”
Martin stepped up to the monitor, his eyes widening as he read the name displayed across the global grid.
“The Meridian Group?” Martin whispered, color draining completely from his face. “That’s impossible. That’s a private defense contractor with direct ties to the Pentagon’s black-budget oversight committee. If they’re backing the Prescott syndicate, that means this corruption goes all the way to the federal government’s highest tiers.”
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“Which explains why the local police and state judges were so easily bought,” I replied, my fists clenching so hard my knuckles turned white. “The Prescotts weren't the masterminds. They were just the local middle-men laundering dirty money for a much larger machine.”
Martin swallowed hard, looking at me with a mixture of awe and absolute dread. “If we take this data public, they won't just try to discredit us, Colonel. They’ll declare us enemies of the state.”
