Chapter 6 - The Betrayal
Marcus hit the brakes, pulling the SUV off the highway and into an abandoned parking lot.
“What are you talking about?” Marcus demanded, turning to face her.
“The cartel doesn’t have access to DoD encryption algorithms,” Claire explained, her fingers flying across her keyboard.
“This level of security is exclusively reserved for federal intelligence agencies.”
She analyzed the source code line by line.
“Someone inside the government gave Ethan this cipher to protect the cartel’s money.”
Marcus went completely pale.
“My agency,” he whispered.
“If my superiors are compromised, I just led us into a trap by reporting to them tonight.”
His burner phone suddenly rang in the cup holder.
They both stared at it as if it were a bomb.
Marcus slowly picked it up and answered.
“Marcus, it’s Director Vance,” a deep voice echoed through the speaker.
“We heard about the fire.”
“Do you have Claire Cole and the drive?”
Marcus looked at Claire, his eyes filled with absolute dread.
“I lost her in the smoke, sir,” Marcus lied smoothly.
“I think she died in the bunker.”
There was a long, heavy silence on the other end of the line.
“That is very unfortunate,” Director Vance said flatly.
“Return to headquarters immediately for debriefing.”
The line went dead.
Marcus threw the phone out the window of the SUV.
“They know I have you,” Marcus said, putting the car in gear.
“Vance is the one who embedded me in Ethan’s company.”
“He wasn't trying to build a case against the cartel.”
“He was using me to make sure Ethan’s money laundering operation ran smoothly without local police interference.”
Claire closed her laptop, her mind racing.
“So the FBI, the cartel, and my husband all want me dead.”
“Yes,” Marcus said bluntly.
“Then there is only one way to survive this,” Claire said, her voice hardening with resolve.
“I built a master backdoor into the encryption software when I designed the original architecture.”
“I can break the cipher and expose everyone.”
Marcus looked at her with a glimmer of hope.
“Do it.”
“I can't do it from here,” Claire said, shaking her head.
“The backdoor requires a physical hardware key that I locked inside Ethan’s personal biometric safe at the corporate headquarters.”
Marcus groaned in frustration.
“The headquarters is currently locked down by a heavily armed cartel hit squad looking for Ethan.”
“Then we have to go back in,” Claire said firmly.
She reached into the backseat and grabbed a tactical vest.
“Because if we don't get that key before dawn, we are dead anyway.”
Marcus stared at the elegant society wife who was currently strapping Kevlar over her silk evening gown.
He pulled his assault rifle from the floorboards.
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“Alright, Mrs. Cole.”
“Let's go rob your husband.”
