Chapter 18 - THE WAR ROOM|
By 1:00 AM, the emergency war room beneath Vale House was fully operational.
Laptops, tactical screens, and satellite maps lined the stone walls. Claire was coordinating our legal and financial assets, while Marcus managed forty armed Vale operatives stationed along the perimeter.
I sat beside Adrian at the head of the tactical table, analyzing the shipping manifests of Victor Cole’s vessel.
"Victor isn't just bringing weapons," I noted, pointing to a series of encrypted cargo codes on the screen. "Look at these registry numbers. These aren't armaments. They're art and antiquities crates from Eastern Europe."
Adrian looked at the codes, his brow furrowing. "Art?"
"Victor Cole is using illegal antiquities trade to finance his mercenary army," I explained, my eyes lighting up as my professional knowledge took over. "These three crates listed under 'Industrial Parts' are actually stolen Byzantine icons from the National Museum in Athens. They were flagged on the INTERPOL watch list three weeks ago!"
Claire gasped, looking at my screen. "Elena... if those crates are on his ship, he isn't just breaking mob rules—he's committing a massive federal crime!"
Adrian looked at me, a brilliant, fierce smile breaking across his hard face. He leaned over and kissed me deeply right in front of his lieutenants.
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"My queen just found the silver bullet," Adrian growled proudly.
"We don't need to fight his fifty mercenaries with guns," I smiled coldly. "We call the Federal Antiquities Task Force and lock his ship down before it even unloads."
