Chapter 3 - The Interception
Claire stared at Marcus through the broken glass of her window.
“The cartel?” she choked out.
“Ethan is a logistics CEO, not a drug lord.”
Marcus pulled her out of the ruined sedan and shoved her toward his SUV.
“Logistics is exactly what a drug lord needs, Claire.”
“How do you think Cole Meridian expanded its shipping routes into Mexico so quickly?”
He threw her into the passenger seat and slammed the door.
Marcus climbed into the driver’s seat and floored the gas pedal.
The heavy SUV smashed past the valet stand and tore down the wet Chicago streets.
“The moment you pulled the license, the shadow accounts froze,” Marcus explained, checking his rearview mirror.
“Three billion dollars just vanished into the digital void.”
“They don't care about your marital problems.”
“They only care that you hold the keys.”
Claire felt the blood drain from her face.
Ethan had framed her.
He had built a backdoor into her system, funneled illegal money through it, and left her name on the legal ownership documents.
If the system went down, she was the one the cartel would hunt.
Her phone buzzed again, lighting up the dark cabin of the SUV.
It was Ethan.
“Answer it,” Marcus commanded.
“Put it on speaker.”
Claire swiped the screen with trembling fingers.
“Ethan?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
“Turn it back on!” Ethan screamed, his voice cracking with pure panic.
“Turn the system back on right now, Claire, or we are both dead!”
“You used my system to launder money,” Claire said coldly.
Ethan let out a hysterical laugh.
“You think I had a choice?”
“Vanessa’s family isn’t old money, Claire.”
“She’s the niece of a cartel boss, and she was sent to infiltrate the company.”
Claire’s stomach violently dropped.
Vanessa wasn’t just a mistress.
She was a handler.
“They have my building surrounded, Claire,” Ethan begged over the phone.
“They are coming up the elevators.”
A loud, explosive crash echoed through the phone speaker.
Gunfire erupted in the background.
Ethan screamed, and then the line went dead.
Marcus cursed loudly and spun the steering wheel, taking a sharp turn into an alleyway.
“We need to get to the backup server farm before Vanessa does,” Marcus said.
“If they get the physical servers, they can bypass your license block and drain the accounts.”
Claire looked out the window as they sped toward the industrial district.
“And if they get the servers, they won't need me alive anymore.”
Suddenly, a bright flash of light illuminated the night sky ahead of them.
May you like
They turned the corner and slammed on the brakes.
The Cole Meridian backup server facility was entirely engulfed in a massive, roaring wall of flames.
