Mr. Howell carefully helped Victoria up the narrow concrete stairs, supporting her weight until they reached the ground floor. He guided her into the master bedroom suite where Lily and Maria were waiting in absolute terror behind the locked door.
Lily: MOMMY!
Victoria: Oh, my sweet girl... come here, baby!
Lily flew into her mother's arms, weeping tears of relief as Victoria held her tight, pressing kisses against her daughter's forehead despite the severe pain in her shoulder.
Mr. Howell: Maria, fetch the emergency first-aid kit from the bathroom. Clean and bandage her shoulder immediately.
Maid: Right away, Mr. Howell!
Victoria: David, what are you going to do? We need to call the police right now and leave the house!
Mr. Howell: If we call the police right now, Arthur’s connections in the district attorney's office will tip Victor off before he steps foot back into this villa. Victor will board a private jet and vanish with fifty million dollars of our family’s wealth.
Victoria: You can't fight him alone, David! He has armed men with him!
Mr. Howell: I’m not fighting him alone. I’m going to use his own greed to trap him right here in this room.
Mr. Howell walked over to the bedroom desk, picking up his personal encrypted satellite phone. He dialed a direct line to the chief of federal investigations in New York—a man whose life Mr. Howell had saved ten years ago during a corporate fraud trial.
FBI Director: Howell? I thought you were in Chicago attending the real estate summit.
Mr. Howell: Director Vance, I have an ongoing federal crime taking place inside my Manhattan residence right now. Armed extortion, corporate embezzlement, and domestic terrorism.
FBI Director: Send me the location coordinates immediately, David. What’s the situation?
Mr. Howell: My CFO, Victor Sterling, and my family attorney, Arthur Pendelton, have stolen fifty million dollars in family bearer bonds and held my wife hostage. They are returning to my home at four o'clock to finalize the wire transfers.
FBI Director: I’m deploying a tactical federal unit to your street immediately. Do not engage them yourself, David!
Mr. Howell: I’ll keep them inside the house until your team surrounds the perimeter. Just make sure your men are in position behind the entry gates.
FBI Director: We’ll be there in twelve minutes. Keep your family safe.
Mr. Howell hung up the phone, looking back at his wife and daughter. He reached into the bedroom nightstand, pulling out a small steel key to his personal gun vault mounted inside the closet wall.
Victoria: David, please... don't do anything reckless!
Mr. Howell: Nobody enters my home, hurts my wife, and terrifies my child without paying the absolute ultimate price, Victoria. Stay in this room and keep this door deadbolted until I come back for you.
Lily: Daddy, be careful...
Mr. Howell: I love you, sweetie. Daddy will be right back.