Chapter 27 - The Retaliation
Richard Kensington did not handle defeat with grace. When his lawyers informed him that the asset freeze was ironclad and initiated by undeniable evidence of fraud, he resorted to the only tactic left to a cornered abuser: intimidation and violence.
Unable to attack us legally, Richard deployed a "fixer" from his darker network of associates.
It was late Tuesday evening. The Vanguard office was mostly empty, the staff having gone home. Daniel was in the server room running diagnostics, and I was in my office, finalizing the civil suit documents for Juliet.
The heavy glass doors of the reception area chimed, indicating someone had bypassed the lower lobby security.
I looked up at the security feed monitor on my desk. A massive, broad-shouldered man in a cheap leather jacket was standing in our reception area. He didn't look like a lawyer. He looked like a blunt instrument.
I didn't panic. I reached under my desk and pressed the silent alarm that alerted Daniel and locked down the elevators.
I walked out of my office and stood at the end of the hallway, projecting absolute authority. "The office is closed. How did you get up here?"
The man turned, offering a terrifying, crooked smile. "Security guard downstairs owed me a favor. Richard Kensington sends his regards, little lady. He says you have something that belongs to him, and if you don't drop the federal injunction by tomorrow morning, accidents are going to start happening. Bad accidents."
He took a heavy, intimidating step toward me, pulling a steel baton from his jacket pocket. "Starting right now."
Before his foot even hit the floor for a second step, the door to the server room slammed open. Daniel moved with a terrifying, fluid speed. He didn't shout a warning. He simply executed.
Daniel grabbed the man's wrist, twisting it violently until the steel baton clattered uselessly to the floor. With his other hand, Daniel drove his palm into the man's chest, slamming the massive fixer against the reinforced glass wall with a force that rattled the entire hallway.
"You made a critical error," Daniel whispered, his forearm pressed against the man's throat, pinning him entirely. "You assumed she was unprotected."
I walked slowly down the hallway, stopping inches from the man's face. He was gasping for air, his eyes wide with sudden terror.
"Tell Richard," I said, my voice dropping to a quiet, lethal register, "that if he ever sends a dog to my door again, I won't just freeze his assets. I will hand the life insurance documents to the FBI and have him arrested for conspiracy to commit murder. Do you understand me?"
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The man nodded frantically. Daniel released him, shoving him toward the stairwell. "Run."
The fixer scrambled down the stairs. I looked at Daniel, my heart beating steadily. We were at war, and we were winning.
