In his Brooklyn operations center, Vancouver sat in front of multiple computer screens, reviewing every detail of tomorrow's transaction. The money would move through six different accounts in four countries, using shell companies that had been created in the past week and had no connection to any of HTBB's historical operations.
The route was clean, the intermediaries were reliable, and the security protocols were as tight as Vancouver could make them. Noah's people would be watching, certainly—they'd be looking for any money movement connected to HTBB. But they'd be looking in the wrong places, watching old accounts and old companies.
Unless they had information Vancouver didn't know about. Unless Brennan had given them more than just witness locations. Unless—
His encrypted phone rang. "Yes?"
"We have a problem." It was one of HTBB's financial operators, voice tight with stress. "The DEA just obtained emergency warrants to freeze seventeen different accounts. I'm looking at the list, and three of them are in tomorrow's transaction route."
Vancouver felt ice in his veins. "How did they get those specific accounts? We just created them this week."
"I don't know. Either they're casting a very wide net, or they have better intelligence than we thought."
"Can we reroute the transaction? Use different accounts?"
"At this short notice? Maybe. But it would be rushed, improvised. Higher risk of mistakes."
Vancouver thought quickly. The smart move would be to abort the transaction entirely, wait until they understood how the DEA had identified those accounts, then try again with better security. But King had promised Mallman this would go through, had personally guaranteed it. Canceling now would destroy client confidence and probably cost them Mallman's business permanently.
"Give me one hour," Vancouver said. "I'll figure out an alternative route. Don't move any money until I confirm the new protocol."
He ended the call and immediately contacted King, explaining the situation.
"This is Noah jogensen," King said coldly. "He's moving faster than anticipated, being more aggressive with financial interdiction. How did he identify those specific accounts?"
"I don't know. Could be they're freezing anything that looks suspicious. Could be they have better intelligence. Could be they're getting lucky."
"We don't believe in luck in this business." King was silent for a moment. "Can you reroute the transaction successfully?"
"Maybe. But it's risky. The smart move is to abort and try again when we have better security."
"That's not acceptable. I gave Mallman my personal guarantee. If we abort now, we lose him and probably three or four other major clients. HTBB's reputation is built on reliability—if we can't move money successfully, we're worthless."
"And if we try to move it and Noah intercepts it? We lose eight million dollars, you have to reimburse Mallman personally, and we prove that our new security protocols aren't as good as we claimed."
Another pause. Vancouver could almost hear King calculating, weighing risks against rewards.
"Reroute it," King decided. "Take whatever precautions you need, but make sure the transaction completes successfully. This is about more than just eight million dollars. This is about demonstrating that HTBB can still operate effectively despite federal investigation. If we can move Mallman's money while Noah is actively trying to stop us, we make a statement about our capabilities."
"And if we can't?"
"Then we have bigger problems than one failed transaction."
After King disconnected, Vancouver sat in the darkness of his operations center, contemplating the chess game he was playing with Noah Jogensen. Both of them were smart, experienced, committed. Both had resources and determination.
But Noah had the law on his side, official sanction for his activities, and the entire weight of federal law enforcement behind him.
Vancouver had only his wits, his network, and his willingness to do whatever was necessary to win.
Tomorrow would determine which of those advantages was more valuable.
He began creating a new transaction route, using accounts Noah wouldn't know about, routes that had never been used before, security protocols that would be almost impossible to track.
Eight million dollars. One transaction. Winner take all.
The war was about to reach a critical turning point.
And Vancouver Sell intended to be on the winning side when it did.