Chapter 8 - The Blackout
The judge's chambers descended into pitch-black chaos the moment the lights completely failed.
Someone screamed—likely my mother—and the heavy sound of scrambling boots echoed across the wooden floor.
In the sudden darkness, I felt a strong hand grab my arm and violently yank me out of my chair.
"Get down, Nora!" Ethan hissed directly into my ear.
A silenced gunshot went off with a sharp thwip, and the judge’s heavy glass lamp shattered perfectly where my head had just been.
The emergency backup lights in the hallway flickered on, casting a dim, red glow through the frosted glass of the chamber doors.
Sterling was already moving like a ghost in the shadows.
He tackled the nearest armed contractor at the knees, sending the man crashing into my father's heavy chair.
"The flash drive!" Sterling shouted to Ethan over the noise of the struggle.
Ethan scrambled across the floor, his fingers desperately searching the carpet until he found the silver USB drive Sterling had surrendered earlier.
"I got it!" Ethan yelled back, pulling me toward the judge's private rear exit door.
Marcus Vance fired blindly into the dark room, the muzzle flashes illuminating his enraged, distorted face.
"Do not let them get out of here!" Marcus roared, realizing his perfectly planned hostage situation was rapidly falling apart.
Ethan kicked the rear door open, and we tumbled into a narrow, restricted stairwell reserved for courthouse staff.
"What did you do?" I gasped, struggling to catch my breath as we sprinted down the concrete steps.
"When I was on the floor, I used my smartwatch to trigger a massive localized EMP feedback loop through the courthouse servers," Ethan explained rapidly.
"It tripped the main breakers, but it will only buy us a few minutes."
"Why did Sterling want you to grab the flash drive?" I asked, my legs burning as we descended three flights of stairs.
Ethan held up the small silver device, his eyes shining with intense adrenaline.
"Because this is not just video evidence of your sister lying," Ethan said, completely out of breath.
"Sterling whispered it to me when I fell near the desk."
"This drive contains the backdoor encryption keys to Vanguard's offshore bank accounts."
We burst through the ground-floor exit and ran into the chaotic, rain-slicked alleyway behind the courthouse.
Police sirens were already screaming in the distance, slowly converging on the compromised building.
"If we plug this into a secure terminal, we can intercept the fifty million dollar cartel wire transfer before it clears," Ethan said, unlocking his car.
"We can drain Marcus Vance's accounts and give the money directly to the federal government."
I jumped into the passenger seat, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.
"Where is the nearest secure terminal that Vanguard cannot trace?" I asked, buckling my seatbelt with shaking hands.
Ethan started the engine, the tires screeching loudly as we peeled out of the narrow alleyway.
"There is only one place with a server strong enough to handle this," Ethan replied grimly.
"The main mainframe inside the Blackridge Holdings corporate office."
Before I could process the danger of returning to my father's headquarters, my cell phone rang brightly in the cup holder.
The caller ID showed it was my sister, Claire.
I answered it, putting it on speakerphone, expecting to hear her screaming for help.
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"Nora, you stupid bitch," Claire sneered, her voice entirely devoid of panic.
"Marcus let me out the front door, and we are heading to the Blackridge office right now to destroy the servers."
