Chapter 5 - The Duress Code
I held my breath, pressing my body completely flat against the cold wall behind the curtains.
The hitman slowly scanned the home office, his suppressed pistol leading the way.
He walked over to the glass desk and touched the computer keyboard.
The monitor flickered to life, proving someone had just been using the machine.
The hitman immediately raised his weapon and turned directly toward the velvet curtains.
My heart hammered so violently I was certain he could hear it echoing in the quiet room.
Suddenly, a loud, piercing fire alarm began blaring throughout the entire high-rise building.
The strobe lights flashed blindingly outside the window, filling the room with chaotic red light.
The hitman cursed loudly in Russian and immediately lowered his weapon.
He sprinted out of the apartment, choosing to escape rather than risk encountering the fire department.
I waited exactly two agonizing minutes before carefully stepping out of my hiding place.
I knew David had remotely triggered the building's fire alarm to save my life.
I grabbed the encrypted flash drive and ran down the emergency stairwell along with dozens of panicked residents.
I met David in a dark alley three blocks away from the apartment building.
"Rachel is part of the conspiracy," I told him breathlessly as I climbed into his car.
"She sent me that text message to lure me into a false sense of security."
David nodded grimly and plugged my stolen flash drive into his encrypted laptop.
"We have exactly one hour before the international wire transfer permanently clears," David warned.
"We cannot stop it from here; Julian initiated a physical lock that requires a master override."
I knew exactly what I had to do, even though it was the most dangerous option possible.
"I have to log into the master terminal at my corporate headquarters," I said firmly.
We drove through the dark city streets, avoiding the main avenues in case the hitman was searching for my car.
We arrived at my sprawling corporate office building and slipped through the underground executive parking garage.
The building was completely empty, illuminated only by the faint glow of emergency security lights.
I ran to my corner office, booted up my primary workstation, and initiated the master override sequence.
The screen prompted me for the final, highest-level security authorization code.
If I entered my standard password, the system would completely freeze the offshore transfer.
Before my fingers could even touch the keyboard, the heavy glass door of my office swung open.
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Julian stood in the doorway, offering me a cruel, chilling smile.
"I knew you were entirely too smart to just die quietly in that apartment," Julian said, raising a silver handgun.
