THE LULLABY KEY : THE FALL

CHAPTER 30: The Arrest

The Vice President was arrested at 6:00 AM, in his pajamas, in the White House residence.

Lena watched on live television. She had requested permission to be present, but the FBI had refused. Too dangerous. Too many variables. Too many people who wanted her dead.

She watched from a safe house in Virginia, surrounded by Swarm members and FBI agents who had defected to her side.

Marcus stood beside her.

“There he is,” he said. “The man who killed your mother.”

Lena said nothing.

On the screen, the Vice President was handcuffed and led out of the White House. He didn’t resist. He didn’t speak. He just walked, head down, into the waiting SUV.

The cameras zoomed in on his face.

He looked old. Tired. Defeated.

But Lena knew better.

He was already planning his defense. Already contacting his lawyers. Already preparing to lie, cheat, and steal his way out of justice.

“The trial will be in six months,” Marcus said. “Maybe longer. He’ll fight every step of the way.”

“I know.”

“Are you ready?”

Lena turned to look at him.

“I’ve been ready for seventeen years.”

She walked away from the television.

There was work to do.

The evidence needed to be organized. The witnesses needed to be protected. The families of the victims needed to be notified.

And somewhere out there, August Marchetti was still free.

Still powerful.

Still smiling.

But not for long.

Lena sat down at her laptop and opened a new file.

She typed a single word:

“MARCHETTI”

Then she began to write.

Everything she knew. Everything she had learned. Everything she suspected.

It would take months. Maybe years.

But she would find him.

She would expose him.

And she would bring him to justice.

One way or another.

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