Chapter 9 - The Raid
Suddenly, the lights in the server room plunged into darkness. A blaring red alarm echoed through the basement. The heavy blast doors at the end of the hallway groaned and locked magnetically.
Marcus had done his job. Once the upload was complete, he had triggered the estate's lockdown protocols from his van outside, trapping everyone inside.
“You bitch!” Vance screamed, raising his gun to shoot me.
Before he could pull the trigger, the ceiling above us literally shook. The sound of helicopter blades chopped through the night air. Outside the small basement window, I saw the blinding white beams of searchlights sweeping across the lawn.
Megaphones blared from outside. “FBI! EVERYONE DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND GET ON THE GROUND! THIS BUILDING IS SURROUNDED!”
Vance panicked. He ran to the server terminal, frantically trying to delete the files, but Arthur’s virus had already encrypted the system. The evidence was in the hands of the Director of the FBI, backed by thousands of un-deletable digital copies sent to every major news outlet in the country.
“It’s over, Elias,” I said, stepping away from the wall. “You can’t shoot your way out of this.”
He turned back to me, his eyes wild, like a trapped rat. “If I’m going to hell, I’m taking Arthur’s bloodline with me.”
He leveled the gun at my chest. I braced for the impact, closing my eyes.
May you like
BANG.
The gunshot was deafening in the small room. But the pain never came.
