Chapter 18 - The Interrogation
Daniel woke up with the taste of copper and blood in his mouth.
His head throbbed violently. He tried to move his arms, but his wrists were bound tightly behind a heavy steel chair with industrial zip-ties.
He blinked through the blood dripping into his eyes. He was no longer in the server room. He was in a cold, soundproofed bunker, illuminated by a single harsh, swinging lightbulb.
Sitting across from him in an expensive leather armchair was Arthur Sterling. He was holding a crystal glass of bourbon.
Standing behind Arthur was El Espectro, looking intensely bored.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Daniel," Arthur smiled warmly, as if they were discussing quarterly profits. "I must admit, your infiltration was impressive. I fired my head of security ten minutes ago."
Daniel spat a mouthful of blood onto the concrete floor. "You are a coward, Arthur. Hiding behind a cartel."
Arthur sighed, taking a sip of his bourbon. "I am a pragmatist, Daniel. You are an idealist. That is why you are tied to a chair, and I am about to become the wealthiest man in the defense sector."
El Espectro stepped forward, holding the encrypted flash drive Daniel had tried to use to steal the ledger.
"He managed to download the files," El Espectro rasped, his scarred face twisting in anger. "But the drive is heavily encrypted with a military-grade biometric lock. I cannot open it without his verbal passcode and his retinal scan."
Arthur leaned forward, his friendly facade dropping instantly.
"Give us the passcode, Daniel," Arthur demanded coldly. "We need to delete the ledger, and we need the final decryption key for the Aegis grid."
"Go to hell," Daniel growled.
El Espectro nodded to a massive cartel enforcer standing in the shadows. The man stepped forward and delivered a brutal, bone-crushing punch to Daniel’s ribs.
Daniel gasped for air, the pain radiating through his entire chest, but he did not scream. He stared fiercely into Arthur’s eyes.
"You can break every bone in my body," Daniel panted. "I will never give you the key."
Arthur chuckled, shaking his head. "I know physical pain won't break a man like you, Daniel. You grew up with nothing. You are used to suffering."
Arthur pulled a sleek tablet from his jacket and placed it on a table in front of Daniel.
He tapped the screen. A live video feed appeared.
It was a thermal camera feed from a drone flying over a remote, snowy cabin in the woods.
Daniel’s heart stopped. It was the black-site safehouse where Jax had taken Emma and Megan.
"Did you really think a few mercenaries could hide your family from Los Sombras?" El Espectro whispered, leaning close to Daniel’s ear. "We track everything. We have thirty heavily armed men surrounding that cabin right now. They are awaiting my order."
Panic finally clawed at Daniel’s throat. He pulled furiously against the zip-ties, cutting deeply into his own wrists, desperate to break free.
"Look at the screen, Daniel," Arthur commanded softly. "Give us the passcode, and I will let your family live. I will even let you live. You can take them and run away to a nice beach in Mexico. But if you defy me again, I will have my men burn that cabin to the ground with your daughter inside."
Daniel stared at the thermal images of the tiny figures moving inside the cabin. He imagined Emma, completely unaware of the monsters lurking in the dark outside her window.
Tears of pure, agonizing helplessness streamed down Daniel’s face. He had lost. He could not sacrifice his little girl for a company.
"Okay," Daniel sobbed, his voice breaking completely. "Okay. I will give you the code. Just don't hurt her."
Arthur smiled triumphantly and slid the keyboard toward Daniel.
"Very smart, Daniel. Say the passphrase."
Daniel took a deep, shuddering breath. He looked directly at the drone feed.
"The passphrase is... Checkmate," Daniel whispered.
Suddenly, the tablet screen violently flickered.
The thermal images of the cartel mercenaries surrounding the cabin suddenly began to disappear, one by one, rapidly dropping off the screen.
Arthur frowned, tapping the tablet in confusion. "What is wrong with the feed? Why are my men dropping?"
Daniel looked up, his tears instantly drying. A dark, terrifying smile spread across his bloodied face.
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"Because, Arthur," Daniel said coldly, his voice devoid of any fear. "You are right. I am a pragmatist too. And I never sent my family to that cabin."
Before Arthur could process the words, a deafening explosion ripped through the ceiling of the bunker, showering them all in concrete and dust.
