Chapter 16 - The Biometric Lock
Deep inside the island fortress, Lily sat shivering in a cold, sterile steel chair in the center of a massive underground vault.
The walls were lined with highly advanced servers and a massive titanium door that protected Julian Vance’s digital wealth.
Caroline stood over the terrified little girl, holding a biometric retinal scanner connected to a heavy, glowing computer terminal.
She spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice, demanding that Lily open her eyes and look directly into the flashing red laser.
Lily squeezed her eyes shut, crying quietly and refusing to cooperate, knowing that doing so would help the bad people.
Julian Vance, a tall, terrifying man covered in elaborate cartel tattoos, paced the room impatiently like a caged predator.
He warned Caroline that they were running out of time, knowing Adrian Cross was likely already hunting them down.
Julian grabbed a heavy wrench from a nearby table, threatening to start breaking the girl’s fingers one by one if she didn’t open her eyes.
Caroline didn’t even blink at the horrific threat toward her own daughter, simply telling Julian to do whatever was necessary to get the money.
Suddenly, the heavy steel door of the vault hissed open, and two heavily armed guards dragged a bruised and bloody Noah into the room.
Noah had woken up during the helicopter ride and had been caught trying to sabotage the fuel lines before they landed.
Lily gasped, her eyes snapping open in sheer terror as she saw her older brother bleeding and held at gunpoint.
Caroline smiled triumphantly, immediately pressing the retinal scanner against Lily’s face before the girl could close her eyes again.
The machine beeped loudly, the laser scanning the unique patterns of Lily’s retinas and matching them to the offshore trust database.
A massive digital screen above the terminal flashed a bright, vibrant green, indicating that the first security lock had been bypassed.
Julian laughed greedily, typing rapidly on the keyboard to initiate the transfer of five billion dollars into his untraceable ghost accounts.
Caroline demanded her fifty percent cut immediately, reminding Julian of the dangerous risk she took by orchestrating the kidnapping.
Julian stopped typing, his hand slowly drifting toward the heavy silver pistol resting on the edge of the computer terminal.
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He looked at Caroline with a cruel, mocking sneer, asking her why he should share the money with a woman willing to sell her own child.
Before Julian could pull his weapon, the vault’s emergency lights suddenly flickered and completely died, plunging the room into absolute darkness.
