Firefighters found the blood on the floor, but the grandmother's body was completely gone.

By dawn, the news was catastrophic for the Sterling empire. Cable networks were broadcasting non-stop coverage of the leaked documents. The Department of Justice had issued emergency freezes on over three billion dollars of international assets tied to Eleanor Sterling.

Inside an underground compound beneath an abandoned subway tunnel in Lower Manhattan, David sat hunched over three laptops, monitoring the collapse in real-time.

"Her stock dropped 80% at the opening bell," David said, pointing to a red cascade of charts. "Her private security contractors are walking off the job because their offshore payroll accounts were seized by the Treasury Department."

"Which makes her more dangerous," Sarah observed, cleaning the sights of her sidearm. "A cornered animal doesn't care about rules, law, or money. She only cares about survival and revenge."

Marcus walked into the room, tossing a encrypted satellite phone onto the table. "That was my contact at the US Attorney's office. Miller has officially gone rogue. He scrubbed his own personnel files from the FBI database and pulled twenty armed operators off the grid. They're functioning as Eleanor’s personal hit squad now."