Chapter 8 - The Ghost in the Machine
My brother screamed in absolute terror and clutched his violently vibrating hands.
My sister dropped her coffee cup, shattering the ceramic mug across the dirty concrete floor.
A booming, digitized voice echoed through the warehouse's rusted public address system.
The voice demanded that my siblings drop entirely to their knees and place their hands behind their heads.
I looked around the dark rafters but could not see the hidden shooter anywhere in the shadows.
My brother arrogantly yelled into the darkness, threatening to kill whoever was interfering with his family business.
A second gunshot instantly shattered the concrete floor exactly one inch from my brother's right foot.
He immediately fell to his knees, weeping like a terrified coward while raising his hands in the air.
My sister quickly followed suit, sobbing uncontrollably and begging the invisible shooter for her life.
The heavy metal doors of the warehouse slowly groaned open, revealing the bright headlights of a tactical vehicle.
Marcus stepped out of the armored SUV, walking with a slight limp and holding a suppressed tactical pistol.
He had not been seriously injured in the car crash, and he had spent the last hour tracking my burner phone.
Marcus walked over to me and used a sharp pocketknife to cut the thick plastic zip-ties off my bruised wrists.
I thanked him profusely, feeling tears of pure relief finally stream down my dirty face.
Marcus smiled and told me that the sniper was a highly trained private contractor he kept on retainer for emergencies.
He turned his attention to my trembling siblings kneeling on the filthy warehouse floor.
He informed them that the crushed flash drive was completely irrelevant because he had already mirrored the files to a secure server.
Marcus had successfully delivered the digital manifesto, the wiretap recordings, and the financial records directly to the FBI director.
The federal agents were already issuing massive arrest warrants for murder, conspiracy, and wire fraud.
My brother began to hyperventilate, realizing his perfect criminal mastermind plan had completely collapsed.
My sister looked up at me with pathetic, pleading eyes and begged me to show her mercy as her own flesh and blood.
May you like
I looked down at her and coldly replied that I should not give away something that is not appreciated.
The wail of dozens of federal police sirens began to echo loudly outside the warehouse walls.
