The Billionaire's Mistake

MISTAKE 140

Chapter 140: A national scandal

"Crystal clear, sir," Hawkins said, ending the call with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

The director of intelligence stood outside the president's office, arranging his thoughts himself for a good while. After a moment's hesitation, he knocked and entered at the president's call. President Edward Ricardo looked up from his desk, his expression expectant. "Reeves, I hope you have good news for me.

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Receives cleared his throat. "I'm afraid not, Mr. President. I've just received word from the

field team. Anya Shaw... We failed to capture her. She's gone received word from the

The president's face darkened, his eyes flashing with anger. "What do you mean, 'gone'? How is that possible?"

"It appears the Shaw family moved her before our agents arrived, sir. We're still investigating how they knew about the operation."

The president slammed his fist on the desk, causing Reeves to flinch. "This is unacceptable! Do you have any idea what's at stake here, Reeves?"

"Sir, I assure you, we're doing everything in our power to locate her. But the Shaw organization is-"

"I don't want excuses!" Ricardo shouted, cutting him off. "I want results. New orders. I want every member of the Shaw family brought in. Every last one of them."

Reeves felt a chill run down his spine. "Mr. President, with all due respect, that's not possible. We don't have probable cause for most of them. It would be a clear violation of their constitutional rights."

Ricardo's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Did I stutter, Director? This is a direct order from your Commander in Chief. Bring them in. All of them. I don't care how you do it."

"Sir, I must protest," Reeves said, his voice firm despite his growing unease. "This is illegal. We can't just round up an entire family without cause. If we do this, the Shaw family will have something on the agency. All of our previous findings and investigation could be ruled as a personal vendetta."

take an involuntary step back. "I don't care about your precious protocols. This is bigger than you know. Now, are you going to follow my orders, or do I need

not reply. If all this goes south, he would take the

the director spoke, his voice barely above

had taken his order and turned to leave. But unknown to him,

up his latest story when his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, not recognizing the number. "Winters," he answered,

it's me," came a hushed voice that he recognized as one of his confidential sources. I've got something big.

a

pulse quickened.

voice said, pausing for effect. "He's

nearly dropped his phone. "What? That's...

It's going down, Jack. And it's going

call ended, Jack sat back in his chair, his mind whirling. This couldn't be real. The President,

hear? Parliament's just called an emergency session. Something

made his way to the office

burst into her office, slightly out of breath. "I've got a

looked up from her computer, her eyes narrowing. "This better be good,

words tumbling out in a rush. "I've got a source saying he's about to be impeached. On charges of heading organized crime." Blackwood's eyebrows shot up. "That's one hell of an accusation, Winters. You'd better have more than just an anonymous

session," Jack pressed on. "It fits. And my source

this is true, it's the story of the century. But if it's not..." She let the

it sounds crazy," Jack said, "but my gut says this is real. We need

to go on standby. But we don't run a damn thing until we

called out, "And Winters? If this pans out, it's your story.

hurried back to the newsroom, his mind already racing with

colleagues, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were standing on pure Intel. This would make

the president but for them too. There