Chapter 14 - The Corporate Fortress
We arrived at my towering corporate headquarters just as the midnight storm began to roll in.
Lightning flashed violently across the dark sky, reflecting off the massive glass exterior of the building.
I used my master executive keycard to bypass the main security doors, leading Vance into the pitch-black lobby.
I did not turn on any of the main lights, relying only on the faint green glow of the emergency exits.
"I need to access the server room on the fiftieth floor to lock down the elevators," I whispered.
We moved silently through the shadows, avoiding the primary camera angles that David might have hacked.
We took the secure maintenance stairwell, climbing fifty flights of stairs in absolute, grueling silence.
By the time we reached the executive server room, my legs were burning with exhaustion.
I booted up the isolated security terminal and began rapidly typing lines of override code.
"I am completely disabling the building's communication network," I explained to Vance.
"Once David steps inside, his cell phone will be a useless brick."
I watched the live security feed on the monitor as a sleek, black luxury sedan pulled up to the front doors.
David stepped out of the car, carrying a heavy silver briefcase and an umbrella.
He swiped his attorney access card, and the front doors slid open smoothly.
He walked into the dark lobby, looking around with absolute, arrogant confidence.
"He is heading for the VIP elevator," Vance noted, watching the screen intently.
I typed a final command, completely killing the power to the VIP elevator just as David stepped inside.
The doors slammed shut, trapping him in a steel box suspended on the ground floor.
I activated the intercom system, routing my voice directly into the trapped elevator car.
"Hello, David," my voice echoed coldly through the small speaker.
David did not flinch, panic, or even look surprised.
He simply looked directly up at the security camera in the corner of the elevator and smiled.
"Maya, you are making a catastrophic mistake," David said smoothly, setting his briefcase on the floor.
"You really think you can trap a man who owns the entire building's infrastructure?"
Before I could even process his words, the computer terminal in front of me violently sparked and died.
The emergency lights in the server room completely shut off, plunging us into total darkness.
The heavy magnetic lock on the server room door disengaged with a loud, terrifying click.
"He bypassed the physical servers," Vance cursed, raising his flashlight and his weapon.
"He has a remote hacking team overriding your entire system from the outside."
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Heavy, rhythmic footsteps suddenly echoed from the dark hallway just outside our door.
David was not trapped in the elevator; he had already been inside the building.
