Chapter 5
Near the gate podium, Sterling was screaming at two port authority officers who were attempting to secure his designer carry-on bag. Several boarding passengers stood in a wide circle, murmuring and recording the spectacle on their smartphones.
“My attorneys will have your badges by evening!” Sterling bellowed, his face vein-swollen and soaked in sweat. “I demand to be released! I have a corporate merger meeting in downtown Boston in three hours!”
“You aren't going to Boston, Julian,” Kristen’s clear, steady voice sliced through the terminal noise like a sharp razor. Sterling whipped his head around, his eyes narrowing in contemptuous fury as he recognized the woman from seat 3A.
“You!” he sneered, straining against the officer’s firm grip. “You insignificant little nuisance! Did you come out here to apologize before I have this miserable airline fire every person who touched me?”
“I came out here to tell you that Marcus Vance sends his regards,” Kristen said, keeping her voice completely calm. The effect of that single name was immediate, terrifying, and profound; Sterling’s jaw went completely slack.
The arrogant color drained out of his cheeks within seconds, leaving him looking hollow, fragile, and utterly terrified. “That... that name means nothing to me,” he stammered, though his knees noticeably buckled beneath his tailored suit.
“Marcus survived the pressure hull collapse, Julian,” Kristen continued, stepping within two feet of him. “He preserved your wire transfers, your offshore shell entities, and your encrypted salvage orders from that night.”
Right on cue, four men in dark civilian suits and windbreakers marked with federal law enforcement seals pushed through the terminal doors. They moved with swift, lethal efficiency, completely bypassing the local airport police officers.
“Julian Sterling?” the lead federal agent stated, flashing a gold badge bearing the seal of the United States Marshal Service. “You are being placed under arrest for federal maritime sabotage, espionage, and conspiracy to commit murder.”
Sterling stumbled backward, but the officers held him upright as the cold steel handcuffs clicked tightly around his wrists. The expensive watch he was so proud of was unclasped and placed into an evidence bag before his eyes.
Chapter 4
“This is a mistake! You don't know who you're dealing with!” Sterling pleaded, his voice cracking into high-pitched panic. The passengers who had watched him abuse Kristen in the cabin earlier looked on with total satisfaction.
“We know precisely who you are,” the federal agent replied coldly. “We have an eight-hundred-page dossier delivered this morning by a very patient Chief Warrant Officer who has been waiting six years for this arrest.”