Chapter 9 – The Sting
"Put your hands in the air, Vance!" Agent Miller shouted, her voice echoing off the glass canopy.
The two bodyguards immediately dropped the tablet and raised their hands, recognizing a lost cause. Vance, however, stood frozen, his eyes locked on Lily with a mixture of disbelief and pure hatred. He gripped his silver cane tightly, his knuckles turning white.
"You think this is over?" Vance hissed, ignoring the federal agents swarming around him. "You think you can take my life's work?"
"It was never your money," Lily said, stepping forward. The fear that had plagued her for years was entirely gone. In its place was an unbreakable resolve. "It was stolen. And now, it's going back."
Vance lunged forward, raising his cane, but before he could take a second step, Arthur tackled him from the side. The two men crashed into a bed of exotic ferns. Vance scrambled to strike Arthur, but Agent Miller was there in a flash, pressing her boot firmly into Vance’s back and clicking a pair of heavy steel handcuffs around his wrists.
"Elias Vance, you are under arrest for extortion, money laundering, and conspiracy," Miller said, hauling him to his feet.
Arthur stood up, brushing dirt from his jacket. He looked at Lily, his chest heaving. "Are you okay?"
Lily looked at the man who had terrified her only yesterday, now thoroughly neutralized, stripped of his power and mystique. She smiled at Arthur. "I'm perfectly fine."
As the agents led Vance and his men away, Agent Miller walked over to Lily and Arthur. She held out her hand. "The real drive, please."
Lily reached into her inner coat pocket and handed over the genuine USB drive. "Sixty million dollars. I hope you put it to good use."
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"The Justice Department has a restitution program," Miller said, securing the drive in an evidence bag. "A lot of people whose lives were ruined by Whitmore and Vance are going to get their money back. You did a good thing tonight, Lily. A very brave thing."
As they walked out of the conservatory and into the cool night air, Arthur put his arm around Lily's shoulders. The flashing red and blue lights of the police cruisers felt different this time. They didn't signal the beginning of a nightmare. They signaled the definitive end of one.
