The Empire of Lies

The three men stared at Sarah as if she had just grown a second head.

“What do you mean you know where she is?” Dominic demanded, stepping closer to her.

Sarah opened her laptop, resting it on a rusted barrel on the deck. “Camille thinks she’s a master spy, but she’s arrogant. She didn't mask the background noise on the call. While she was threatening you, I heard three distinct sounds.”

She played the recorded audio file back, isolating the background noise.

“First, the rhythmic slapping of water against a hollow aluminum hull. They’re on a boat, but it’s moored, not moving. Second, that low hum in the background? That’s not a boat engine. That’s an industrial generator. Specifically, a heavy-duty diesel generator used for arc welding.”

Robert frowned. “There are a hundred shipyards in Miami that use those.”

“True,” Sarah said, her fingers flying over the keyboard. “But listen to the third sound.”

She enhanced the audio further. A faint, repetitive ringing sound echoed beneath Camille’s voice. Ding-ding... Ding-ding.

“That is a maritime warning buoy,” Sarah explained. “Specifically, a Type-4 Bell Buoy. According to the NOAA charts for Biscayne Bay, there is only one Type-4 buoy located within auditory range of an abandoned industrial welding shipyard.”

She pulled up a satellite map and dropped a red pin on a small, isolated inlet near Key Biscayne. “An old naval dry dock. Decommissioned in 2018. It’s completely off the grid, accessible only by water or a single private access road. That’s where Camille is hiding.”

Antonio looked at Sarah, genuine respect gleaming in his aged eyes. “You pay this girl enough, Danny?”

“Not nearly enough,” Dominic muttered, checking the magazine of his Glock. He looked at his father. “Can you fight?”

Antonio racked his shotgun, gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg. “Try and stop me.”

“We have forty-five minutes before Camille expects the transfer,” Robert said, checking his watch. “It’s a twenty-minute boat ride. We’re going in blind.”

“Not entirely blind,” Sarah said, typing rapidly. “I managed all of Camille’s private credit cards for seven years. I know her habits. She bought an encrypted satellite radio system three weeks ago. I just pinged its GPS locator. There are six active radios at that dry dock. That means Camille has at least five heavily armed men with her.”

Dominic looked at Robert and Antonio. Three men against six trained Moretti hitmen. It was a suicide mission.

“We need a distraction,” Antonio growled. “Something to draw them out of the main building so Danny can slip in and grab the girl.”

Sarah closed her laptop. “I can give you a distraction.”

Dominic shook his head immediately. “No, Sarah. You stay here. You’ve done enough. This is family business now.”

“With all due respect, Mr. Caruso, you are my business,” Sarah replied, looking him dead in the eye. “For seven years, I’ve cleaned up your messes, organized your life, and anticipated your enemies' moves. Camille looked right at me in the museum and saw a secretary. She thinks I’m a nobody. That is our greatest advantage.”

She pulled a sleek, encrypted flash drive from her purse.

“Camille wants the money,” Sarah said. “She wants the empire. I’m going to walk right up to the front gate and offer it to her.”

Robert looked horrified. “She’ll kill you the second you hand it over.”

“She won't have the chance,” Sarah said coldly. “Because while I have her attention, you three are going to breach the compound from the water and kill every single person standing behind her.”

Dominic stared at his assistant. He had always known Sarah was brilliant, hyper-competent, and loyal. But beneath the designer glasses and the tailored suits, he realized she possessed a ruthlessness that rivaled any mob boss.