Chương 6 - The Infiltration
The name Tariq Al-Fayed echoed in Meline’s mind like a dark, haunting bell.
Three years ago, she had been on the verge of exposing Tariq’s weapons syndicate when a car bomb decimated her convoy.
She had lost her team, her career, and almost her life.
Now, she realized Preston Caldwell was not just a greedy CEO; he was laundering money for a global terrorist.
"This changes everything, David," Meline whispered, staring at the terrifying connection on the screen.
"If Tariq is involved, Caldwell is playing a much deadlier game than corporate espionage."
David handed her a gray janitorial jumpsuit and a forged security badge hanging from a lanyard.
"The badge will get you through the lobby and onto the service elevator, but the forty-fifth floor requires a retinal scan," David explained.
"I will handle the scanners," Meline said, slipping into the disguise.
She left the hidden clinic before dawn, blending in with the early morning commuters on the subway.
The Caldwell and Hayes building was a towering monolith of glass and steel in the heart of the financial district.
Meline kept her head down, pushing a heavy cleaning cart through the polished marble lobby.
She swiped the forged badge at the security turnstile, holding her breath as the light turned a solid, welcoming green.
She wheeled the cart onto the service elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.
Her pulse hammered in her ears as the elevator shot upward, carrying her directly into the lion's den.
The doors opened to a silent, dimly lit hallway lined with expensive modern art and heavy glass doors.
Meline left the cart behind and crept toward the secure server room at the end of the corridor.
The retinal scanner blinked ominously beside the reinforced steel door.
She pulled a small, compressed canister of thermal gel from her pocket and sprayed it directly onto the optical sensor.
The sudden temperature shift cracked the delicate glass of the scanner, causing the system to default to its emergency physical override mode.
Meline picked the analog lock in under ten seconds and slipped quietly into the freezing server room.
Rows of blinking black towers hummed loudly in the dark space.
She found the air-gapped terminal in the center of the room and plugged David’s decryption drive into the port.
The screen lit up, and a progress bar began slowly downloading the master ledger containing Tariq’s laundered money.
Ten percent.
Twenty percent.
Meline watched the numbers climb, knowing this drive was the key to destroying both Preston and Tariq forever.
Suddenly, the heavy steel door behind her slammed shut with a deafening metallic crash.
The room was instantly bathed in blinding, flashing red security lights.
"I knew you were arrogant, but I didn't think you were stupid enough to walk right into my building," a voice echoed through the intercom.
Meline spun around, drawing her combat knife from her boot.
Preston Caldwell’s face appeared on a digital monitor mounted to the wall, and he was smiling an impossibly cruel smile.
"Did you really think my system wouldn't alert me the second that scanner broke?" Preston mocked.
Meline looked at the download bar, which was painfully stuck at eighty percent.
"I don't need to leave this room to ruin you," Meline yelled back, typing fiercely on the keyboard to speed up the transfer.
Preston laughed loudly through the speakers.
"You aren't going to ruin anyone, Meline, because you aren't leaving that room alive."
May you like
The digital monitor flickered, changing from Preston’s smug face to a live video feed of David’s hidden clinic.
Two heavily armed mercenaries were holding assault rifles directly to David’s and Evelyn’s heads.
