Chapter 9 - The Secondary Ledger
The FBI agents wrapped warm emergency blankets around Claire and Jordan, leading them safely out of the library.
Dozens of police cruisers with flashing red and blue lights surrounded the building, creating a perimeter of absolute safety.
Claire sat in the back of an ambulance, letting a paramedic check her vitals while her mind raced.
"What did she mean by the secondary ledger?" Jordan asked, sitting right next to her.
Claire pulled her backup phone from her pocket, thankful she still had a small charge left from a portable battery pack.
"I downloaded the entire main directory, I must have grabbed it without realizing," Claire muttered, opening her encrypted files.
She scrolled past the primary 'Project Ivy' document and found a hidden, locked file simply titled 'Phase Two'.
Using a brute-force decryption tool she had coded herself, she managed to crack the file open in seconds.
The spreadsheet loaded on her small screen, revealing a list of names that made her heart stop completely.
It was not a list of corrupt politicians or wealthy parents buying grades.
It was a detailed hit list, targeting individuals who had gotten too close to discovering the conspiracy.
Beside each name was an assigned contractor, a date, and a method of execution.
Claire scrolled frantically down the list, looking for her own name or Jordan's.
Instead, her eyes landed on a name that caused the breath to catch entirely in her throat.
"Jordan... look at this," Claire whispered, her hands shaking violently as she handed him the phone.
Jordan squinted at the bright screen, reading the specific row she had highlighted.
Target: Marcus Vance, Principal of Covington High School.
Status: Scheduled for elimination tonight at 3:00 AM, to tie up all loose ends.
"They are going to assassinate the principal to ensure he can never testify against the higher-ups," Jordan realized in horror.
Claire checked the digital clock on the ambulance dashboard, which glowed brightly in the dark.
It was currently 2:45 AM, meaning they had exactly fifteen minutes to stop a professional murder.
They jumped out of the ambulance and ran directly to the FBI director who was coordinating the arrests.
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Before they could even speak, a massive explosion rocked the horizon, lighting up the night sky with a brilliant orange fireball.
The explosion had come directly from the wealthy neighborhood where Principal Vance lived.
