Chapter 7
Z
We burst into the blinding daylight of the alleyway behind the bank, the alarms blaring behind us like a war horn. Tires screeched as a black SUV sped toward the back exit, blocking our path to Ethan's truck.
"In here!" Ethan yelled, shoving me toward a heavy metal door leading into the basement of an adjacent commercial building.
We threw ourselves inside and slammed the heavy lock into place just as heavy footsteps hammered down the alley. We were in a labyrinth of dimly lit utility corridors beneath the city center.
"They have the police band monitored," I panted, leaning against the damp brick wall, clutching my bruised ribs. "Vance will issue a blue alert. She'll tell every cop in the state that you went rogue and attacked officers."
"Let her," Ethan said, checking the magazine of the pistol he had seized from Vance. "She thinks she controls the narrative because she’s the District Attorney. But she doesn't know what’s on that silver flash drive."
I pulled the silver drive from my pocket. "We need to get to a clean, air-gapped terminal. If I plug this into a network-connected computer, Elysium’s automated defense protocols will wipe the drive remotely."
"I know a place," Ethan said, his face hardening. "The reserve armory unit six miles north. It’s an offline command bunker under my old commanding officer, Major Miller. He’s one of the few men in the military who hasn't been bought by Vance’s father."
We moved swiftly through the underground maintenance tunnels, emerging four blocks away in a crowded subway station. Blending into the morning rush-hour crowd, we managed to slip past two uniformed officers who were already frantically staring at their phones—no doubt receiving the fake alert issued by Vance’s department.
An hour later, we arrived at a discreet, unmarked warehouse on the outskirts of the industrial district. Ethan knocked on the reinforced steel door using a rhythmic tactical sequence.
A small viewing hatch slid open. A pair of sharp, weathered eyes scanned us before the heavy door unlocked with a deep pneumatic hiss.
Major Miller, a grizzled veteran with graying hair and a severe scar running down his cheek, stepped back to let us in. "Vance, what the hell is going on? My phone is blowing up with federal warrants for you and your wife."
"It’s a setup, Major," Ethan said, closing the heavy door behind us. "The Vance family is running Elysium Holdings. DA Vance just tried to execute us inside First National Bank."
Major Miller’s eyes narrowed, but he didn't question his former soldier. "Follow me."
He led us into a retrofitted basement room filled with heavy server racks, radio monitors, and offline military computers. I sat down at the main terminal, plugged in the silver flash drive, and entered the decryption code my father had hidden in the ledger.
The screen flickered, and thousands of encrypted files began unfolding.
My heart stopped as a video file automatically began playing on the main screen.
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It was a recorded video from three years ago. Sitting behind a desk was my father, looking frail and pale, speaking directly into the camera.
"Claire," his recorded voice rasped through the speakers. "If you are watching this, it means I am dead, and Victoria Sterling has executed the final phase of the plan. But you need to know the truth about why they targeted our family... It wasn't just money, Claire. Your mother wasn't tricked. She was the one who helped them murder me."
