Chapter 7 - NIGHT AT THE ESTATEZ
The rain beat violently against the windshield of Frank’s black SUV as he drove Claire toward the estate. Two dark security sedans followed closely behind.
"I called the local precinct," Frank said, holding the steering wheel with a firm grip. "They have cars en route, but because of the rainstorm, ETA is twenty minutes."
"Twenty minutes is too long," Claire said, her eyes fixed on the dark road ahead. "The source code drives are stored in a biometrically locked safe behind the desk. He doesn't have my fingerprint, but he knows where the emergency override key is hidden."
"Did you leave the override key there?"
"No," Claire said with a dark edge in her voice. "I moved the key three days ago. But if he tries to force the lock with heavy tools, he could destroy the physical drive arrays."
Within ten minutes, the SUV pulled up to the heavy iron gates of the estate. The gates were slightly ajar, the lock snapped by a crowbar.
Frank parked the SUV near the bottom of the long driveway, keeping the headlights off. Claire and three security guards stepped out into the pouring rain, using heavy flashlights to navigate the slick pavement toward the front door.
Inside the mansion, the air was cold and dark, saved for the dim lights illuminating the second-floor hallway.
Claire walked silently up the grand marble staircase, her guards trailing right behind her.
As they approached the double doors of the master study, she heard the frantic sound of metal striking metal, followed by raised, panicked voices.
"Hurry up, Ethan! The police could be coming!" Lily’s shrill voice rang out from inside the room.
"Shut up and hold the flashlight straight!" Ethan yelled back, his voice strained with physical effort. "If I can pop this steel latch, these drives are worth at least five million on the tech dark market! I know a buyer in Shanghai who asked about her encryption patents last year!"
Claire stopped right at the doorway, her blood running cold. Ethan hadn't just accidentally fallen into crime; he had been planning to sell her trade secrets to foreign buyers even before the divorce.
"Ethan, this is crazy," his father Richard argued nervously. "If we get caught doing this, it's state prison!"
"We're already ruined, Dad!" Ethan screamed, hammering a crowbar into the safe frame. "The bank called the loan an hour ago! The federal marshals are going to freeze my assets by morning! This drive is the only way we walk away with cash!"
Claire reached out and pushed the heavy study doors wide open.
"You always were terrible at risk management, Ethan," she said clearly.
Ethan froze, the crowbar slipping from his gloved hands and crashing onto the hardwood floor with a deafening thud.
Lily let out a scream, dropping the flashlight. The beam rolled across the floor, casting long, menacing shadows across the empty room.
Richard backed away against the wall, throwing his hands up. "Claire! Please! We didn't want to do this! He forced us to come!"
Ethan slowly turned around. His clothes were soaked from the rain, his eyes bloodshot, wild, like an animal backed into a corner.
"Claire," Ethan breathed, holding a heavy screwdriver in his right hand. "You ruined my life. You humiliated me in front of my family, my lawyer, the press... you destroyed everything!"
"You destroyed yourself," Claire said quietly, standing her ground while Frank and the two guards stepped into the room, their flashlights pinned directly onto Ethan's face. "Put the screwdriver down."
"No!" Ethan yelled, taking a step toward her, brandishing the sharp metal tool. "You think you're so smart! You think you can just walk away with your millions while I go to prison? If I'm going down, I'm taking your work with me!"
He lunged toward the safe, raising a heavy sledgehammer he had brought from the garage, intending to smash the drive array to pieces out of pure malice.
Frank reacted instantly. He fired a heavy taser.
May you like
The two prongs struck Ethan squarely in the back. Electric current surged through his body, locking his muscles instantly. Ethan let out a muffled groan and collapsed hard onto the floor, the sledgehammer clattering harmlessly away from the safe.
Outside, the siren lights of three police cruisers finally painted the high windows in brilliant flashes of red and blue.
