Chapter 7 - The Corrupt Sheriff
The blinding tactical flashlights of the police squad swept aggressively across the library basement.
The corrupt sheriff marched into the room with an authoritative swagger, ignoring the bleeding men on the floor.
He immediately pointed his heavy service weapon directly at Beatrice's chest.
Drop the antique revolver right now, lady, or my men will open fire on this entire room.
Beatrice hesitated, glancing desperately at her wounded husband before reluctantly letting the gun clatter to the concrete.
Officers quickly swarmed the family, roughly kicking their legs apart and forcing them against the server racks.
Vance casually brushed the dust off his tailored suit and adjusted his expensive silk tie.
Sheriff, these dangerous criminals just attempted to assassinate me in cold blood.
The sheriff nodded obediently, completely playing along with the billionaire's fabricated narrative.
I saw the whole thing, Mr. Vance, and we will make sure they are locked away for a very long time.
Chloe struggled against the firm grip of the officer holding her, desperately trying to look at her laptop.
The upload progress bar was frozen inexplicably at ninety-nine point nine percent.
Vance noticed her frantic gaze and walked leisurely over to the glowing computer screen.
He picked up the small, plastic USB drive and violently yanked it out of the laptop's port.
The screen instantly flashed a bright red error message, indicating a fatal interruption in the network transfer.
You were incredibly close, Chloe, but in the real world, the house always wins.
He dropped the flash drive onto the floor and crushed it into tiny, unreadable pieces beneath his expensive leather shoe.
Leo began to cry loudly, terrified by the aggressive men holding his mother and grandparents hostage.
Vance looked down at the crying boy and let out a cold, deeply unsympathetic sigh.
Take them all out to the abandoned quarry on the edge of town and silence them permanently.
The sheriff smirked and ordered his deputies to place heavy steel handcuffs on Chloe and her family.
Thomas groaned in pain as an officer roughly yanked his bleeding arm behind his back.
Chloe felt a crushing wave of ultimate defeat wash over her entire soul.
She had spent ten grueling years preparing for this exact moment, only to fail at the very last second.
As the officers began to drag them toward the exit, the harsh fluorescent lights in the basement suddenly completely died.
The entire room was plunged into absolute, pitch-black darkness.
The corrupt deputies shouted in confusion, their tactical flashlights malfunctioning inexplicably.
A heavy, metallic thud echoed from the library entrance, followed by the sound of the main doors locking automatically.
The library's emergency public address system crackled to life with a loud, electronic hum.
May you like
A calm, artificially distorted voice echoed through the speakers, freezing the blood in Arthur Vance's veins.
The upload was not interrupted, Arthur; it was merely a decoy payload to distract you from the real network intrusion.
