Chapter 8 - The Headquarters Race
I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the ringing in my ears and the chaos unfolding in the ruined living room.
I ran out the front door, desperate to stop Mark before he could erase the only evidence of his massive fraud.
Silas was already waiting in the driveway, the engine of his sleek sports car roaring like a caged beast.
I threw myself into the passenger seat, shouting over the engine noise that Mark was heading for the corporate tower.
Silas slammed his foot onto the gas pedal, tearing through the quiet suburban streets at terrifying, reckless speeds.
The massive, glittering glass skyscraper of Mark’s tech empire loomed in the distance against the dark night sky.
We arrived to find the front plaza completely locked down and barricaded by corrupt local police officers.
At the center of the blockade stood Detective Miller, violently barking orders to keep everyone out of the building.
Silas did not even touch the brakes as we approached the heavy steel barricades at seventy miles per hour.
Instead, he calmly pressed a button on his dashboard, activating a massive, blinding strobe light mounted on the grille.
The corrupt officers scattered in absolute panic as our heavy vehicle smashed cleanly through the metal barriers.
We skidded to a halt near the glass entrance just as a convoy of black federal SUVs swarmed the plaza behind us.
The federal agents, acting on Silas’s anonymous tip, quickly disarmed and arrested Detective Miller right on the pavement.
I did not wait to watch the corrupt cops face justice; I sprinted directly into the corporate lobby.
I bypassed the disabled elevators and ran up six exhausting flights of stairs to the main executive server floor.
I burst through the heavy glass doors, my lungs burning and my legs trembling from absolute exhaustion.
I found Mark frantically dousing the towering rows of massive computer servers with highly flammable liquid.
He held a silver lighter in his shaking hand, laughing wildly like a man who had completely lost his mind.
He screamed that if he could not rule the empire he built, he would burn it to the ground and take us all with him.
I stood my ground, staring at the pathetic, broken man I had served faithfully for twenty long years.
I calmly told him that he had never built anything in his entire miserable life.
I pointed toward the massive, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the bustling city streets below.
May you like
Mark slowly turned his head, his crazed laughter dying instantly in his throat.
The entire building was completely surrounded by dozens of bright news vans, broadcasting his insane, gasoline-soaked breakdown live to the entire world.
