Chương 4 - The Evacuation
Meline stared at the chilling warning on her screen for exactly one second before snapping the laptop shut.
She shoved the computer into her tactical bag and sprinted into her mother’s bedroom.
Evelyn was still deep in a medication-induced sleep, oblivious to the danger surrounding them.
"Mom, I need you to wake up right now," Meline said, gently shaking the frail woman's shoulders.
Evelyn groaned softly, her eyes fluttering open with confusion.
"Meline? What time is it?" she asked weakly.
"We have to leave, Mom, and we have to do it quickly," Meline instructed, wrapping a thick winter coat over her mother's nightgown.
Meline did not bother packing clothes or sentimental items.
She grabbed Evelyn's essential medications, slung the tactical bag over her shoulder, and practically carried her mother to the door.
They stepped out into the hallway just as the fire alarm in the building began to screech violently.
Thick gray smoke was already billowing up from the stairwell beneath them.
Preston Caldwell’s men had not left the building; they had simply gone to the basement to sever the gas lines.
Meline supported her mother’s weight and forced her way down the suffocating, smoke-filled stairs.
Tenants were throwing open their doors, screaming in panic as the fire rapidly spread up the old wooden walls.
They reached the lobby just as a massive explosion tore through the second floor, shattering every window on the block.
The shockwave threw Meline and Evelyn onto the cold concrete of the sidewalk outside.
Meline covered her mother’s body with her own as debris rained down around them.
Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder as fire trucks sped toward the burning apartment complex.
Meline helped her coughing mother to her feet and led her away from the chaotic scene into a dark alleyway.
She pulled out a burner phone she kept for absolute emergencies and dialed a number she had memorized years ago.
The phone rang twice before a gruff, tired voice answered.
"I need a favor, David," Meline said to her former cybersecurity asset.
"Meline?" David asked, his voice thick with shock. "I thought you were dead."
"I was," Meline replied coldly as she watched her apartment burn to ashes. "But now I need you to help me destroy a billionaire."
"Preston Caldwell?" David guessed immediately, typing rapidly on his keyboard.
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"How did you know that?" Meline asked, her eyes narrowing in the darkness.
"Because Caldwell’s private security firm just put a two-million-dollar bounty on your head on the dark web," David warned.
