CHAPTER NINETEEN
Grayson stood at the end of the scarred conference table while the others crowded into the secure room, the glow of the wall monitors cutting hard lines across their faces.
“It’s good that we have friends all over the world. A transmitter has been planted in Lacroix’s body. He thought he was bitten by something but once we had his location, one of the drones shot him with a locator at the back of his neck. We don’t have to chase him any longer.”
“We keep treating Lacroix like prey,” he said. “Every time we close in, he slips the net, burns another contact, and turns Jennifer into the story, seeking sympathy and help. That ends tonight.”
Moose folded his arms.
“You saying we stop hunting him?” The disbelief in his voice drew Striker forward, but Grayson held up a hand.
“I’m saying we stop chasing him. There’s a difference. We make him run because he’s afraid to stand still.”
“Fear needs teeth,” Gunner said. “Not rumors. Not warnings. Consequences.”
Hunter tapped the map display, where red markers showed Lacroix’s last confirmed movements.
“Then we give every border station, financial crimes unit, and trusted task force a reason to look twice at him.”
Conor leaned toward the speakerphone.
“Hiro, give me Interpol reach without the bureaucratic varnish.” Static clicked once. Hiro answered, calm and immediate.
“We have trusted liaisons in France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Croatia, and Greece. AJ is vetting secondary contacts now.”
“Not enough,” U-Jin said. “Lacroix expects official pressure. He knows how to hide inside procedure.” Brunson nodded.
“So we don’t announce a manhunt. We let each country believe he has already compromised the next one. Nobody protects a liability.”
Romeo paced behind the chairs.
“He’s attacking Jennifer’s credibility because hers is the only voice he can’t buy. He’ll leak forged records, edited audio, anything that makes her look unstable or dishonest.” Iggy looked up from his tablet.
“Then every lie he releases becomes evidence of coordination. We archive it, timestamp it, and trace who repeats it first.”
Jethro planted both palms on the table.
“And when one of his mouthpieces calls us?”
“We don’t threaten,” Kai replied. “We give them verified facts and let them understand how close they are to becoming accessories. Lacroix loses power when people become embarrassed to be seen beside him.”
Rowe studied the transit routes.
“He’ll start in Marseille. He has a warehouse contact near the port.” Sonny shook his head.
“Had one. If Interpol leans on customs and the local police make a visible inspection, that contact folds before Lacroix reaches the door.”
Grayson tapped the tracker for comms again.
“AJ, can you freeze the shell companies without tipping him?” AJ’s reply came over the room speakers.
“The legal packets are ready but it’ll be faster if we don’t use the legal route. We can make it happen much faster. Three banks will act within twenty minutes, two more within the hour. Cash cards, brokerage access, crypto off-ramps, and corporate credit lines all go dark together.”
“Do it in waves,” Striker said. “If everything shuts at once, he knows we found the whole network.” AJ answered.
“Negative. If we stagger it, he can move assets between closures. A simultaneous lock leaves him with whatever is on his person.” Grayson looked around the table.
“AJ’s right. We don’t give him a warning; we give him a wall.” Moose grinned without humor.
“Passport, phone, cash in his pocket. That’s his kingdom.” Gunner pointed at the map.
“And every time he tries to use one, somebody trusted is waiting. No wild cards. No local hero looking for headlines. Only people Hiro and AJ have cleared.”
“Hiro, status on Marseille.”
“Captain Croyeaux has agreed to a port inspection,” Hiro said. “No arrest attempt unless Lacroix presents forged documents or resists. The goal is pressure, not a firefight.” Hunter glanced at Grayson.
“Good. We want him moving.”
The first call came eighteen minutes later. A surveillance image appeared on the central screen: Lacroix leaving a sedan near the Marseille docks, turning away the moment he saw customs officers entering the warehouse. Conor exhaled.
“He took the bait.” Hiro corrected him.
“He recognized the danger. That’s better. Fear makes its own bait.”
“Where did he go?” Brunson demanded. AJ answered before Hiro could.
“Rail camera picked him up buying a ticket under a Belgian identity. Destination Lyon, but he exited at Avignon and boarded a northbound freight shuttle with a bribed driver. The driver has already called local authorities.”
Romeo leaned close to the laptop.
“Tell them not to grab him.”
“Already done,” Hiro said. “A patrol will stop the truck for a safety inspection. They’ll let Lacroix see uniforms, then allow the vehicle to continue after documenting the driver. He’ll assume the driver sold him out.”
“That’s cold,” Iggy murmured with a grin. “I love it.”
“Cold is what keeps Jennifer alive. Lacroix wants her isolated, doubting every ally. We turn the mirror. Every friend he calls becomes a question he can’t answer.”
By dawn, Lacroix had crossed into Belgium in the back of a delivery van. Rowe watched a live traffic feed as two unmarked vehicles appeared behind it.
“Brussels federal police?” he asked. AJ replied responded.
“One federal unit, one financial crimes team. Both know the rules. Keep him moving, seize anything he abandons, and feed us every contact he attempts.”
Sonny’s phone vibrated. He listened, then raised a finger.
“One of Lacroix’s fixers just refused him a safe apartment.” Kai’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because the fixer’s attorney received the Interpol notice and a packet showing Lacroix forged evidence against Jennifer. The man thinks Lacroix is radioactive.”
Grayson nodded once.
“There’s the break. We don’t have to prove every accusation today. We prove enough that no one stakes a reputation on his word.”
“And when he attacks Jennifer again, the question becomes why a fugitive with frozen accounts is so desperate to silence her,” said U-Jin. The room jumped, forgetting he was even there. He raised his brows with a tiny grin at the corner of his lips. Hiro came back on the line.
“Update. Lacroix tried two cards in Brussels. Both declined. He called a banker in Luxembourg, but the banker disconnected after AJ’s fraud alert reached compliance.” Moose slapped the table.
“Now he knows.”
“No,” Grayson said. “Now he wonders how much we know.”
Striker traced the likely route east.
“He’ll avoid airports and major stations. Germany next, then Austria. He’ll think old intelligence contacts can hide him.” Gunner shook his head.
“Not after we show those contacts the forged dossiers he used against them. When they see everything that we have on him, they’re going to run scared and keep their mouths shut. He burned people for years. We’re just turning on the lights.”
At the German border, a local unit stopped Lacroix’s borrowed car and impounded it for altered plates. He escaped on foot before officers could question him, leaving a coat, a second phone, and half his cash beneath the passenger seat. AJ’s voice sharpened over comms.
“He’s down to one handset and whatever he concealed on his body.”
“Can we exploit the phone?” Conor asked.
“We won’t compromise it directly. German authorities have lawful access to the abandoned device, and they’re sharing call records through the liaison channel. His last outgoing call was to Vienna.”
Brunson jabbed at the Vienna marker.
“Who answered?”
“A former logistics contractor named Petrovic. He denied knowing Lacroix, then booked a flight to Zagreb ten minutes later.” Romeo smiled thinly.
“There goes another pillar of credibility. They know who is chasing him now. They know that all of you are looking for him and if they don’t back off, they could be next and no one wants to be next on your list.”
“Make sure the denial is preserved,” Iggy said. “When Lacroix claims Petrovic is a trusted witness against Jennifer, we show the contradiction.”
“Every lie costs him a person. Every person costs him a route. Keep the pressure clean and documented,” said Grayson. Kai looked at the tired faces around the room.
“He’ll get reckless soon. Men like Lacroix don’t accept helplessness; they manufacture a crisis.”
“Then he’ll release his biggest fabrication against Jennifer,” said Iggy. Grayson’s gaze stayed on the map.
“And we’ll be ready before he presses send. No one will believe him. Not the authorities, not the judge, no one. He’ll never make it into a courtroom. His own contacts will make sure he can’t utter a word about them. He was chasing the wrong woman this time.”
“AJ, put the response package on standby. Verified timeline, original files, independent lab results, and statements from the authorities who handled the evidence.”
“I’m not going to answer sarcastically because this is your first time working with us. But. Duh. Already mirrored in six jurisdictions. If he releases the forgery, trusted officials publish the authentication record within minutes.”
Hours later, Lacroix surfaced in Zagreb and sent the fabricated dossier to three reporters.
Two called him back for verification; the third contacted the number listed as Jennifer’s counsel.
Before the story could spread, Croatian authorities confirmed that the source was wanted for financial fraud, trafficking, kidnapping, rape, murder, and document falsification. Hiro’s voice filled the room.
“The dossier is collapsing in real time.” Moose let out a low laugh.
“He tried to bury my daughter and dug his own hole.”
“Don’t celebrate yet,” Hunter warned. “A cornered man still has choices.” Grayson shook his head.
“Not many. That’s the design. He can’t buy transport, can’t trust a contact, and can’t sell a lie.”
Gunner’s screen flashed with a new alert.
“He’s heading south toward the coast.” Hiro confirmed it.
“Local police in Split have eyes on the bus terminal. Greek authorities are watching ferry routes. Interpol has circulated the updated notice, but only to vetted teams.”
“Let him see one patrol car,” Striker said. “Not enough to trap him. Enough to make him abandon the ferry.”
“Then a second unit appears at the road south. He’ll think both exits are burned,” said Conor. AJ cut in.
“He just checked his account balance again. Zero available funds.” U-Jin spoke quietly.
“This is the moment he understands that his world has stopped believing him.” Brunson looked across the table.
“No. This is the moment he understands the world is comparing notes. That’s what scares men like him—their victims finally speaking to one another.
While Moreau was playing king of the castle, Lacroix was creating his own underground network and committing crimes that no one asked about, no one cared to know. Until now.”
“Hiro, AJ, keep every authority in sequence. No improvisation, no grandstanding,” said Romeo.
“Confirmed.” AJ followed.
“His remaining aliases are flagged, his accounts are frozen, and every known resource is cut off. He has only what he carries.”
Grayson surveyed the team—Moose, Striker, Gunner, Hunter, Conor, U-Jin, Brunson, Romeo, Iggy, Jethro, Kai, Rowe, and Sonny—then looked back at Lacroix’s blinking marker.
“We’re done chasing him,” he said. “From now on, every road he takes closes behind him, every lie exposes another lie, and every call reminds him that someone he trusted chose us instead.”
The marker shifted toward the dark coastline, hesitated, and turned inland. Nobody in the room moved.
“He changed direction again,” said Hiro.
“Third time in eleven minutes,” said AJ. Grayson’s expression hardened.
“Good. Let him keep running scared.”