Chapter 5 - The Hacker
Nadia gripped the steering wheel of the stolen police cruiser, her mind racing with a million desperate thoughts.
She was now a wanted fugitive, framed for a murder that had not even happened yet.
She knew Borel and the Mayor would use the entire city's police force to hunt her down ruthlessly.
She needed to publish the files immediately, but the police firewall was actively blocking her remote access.
There was only one person in the city skilled enough to bypass a government-grade firewall.
Her younger brother, Leo, lived in a rundown apartment building on the east side of the city.
Leo was a brilliant computer programmer who had always stayed entirely out of her dangerous investigative work.
She parked the cruiser a few blocks away and pulled her jacket hood tightly over her head.
The streets were swarming with patrol cars, their red and blue lights painting the brick walls of the alleys.
Nadia slipped through a broken chain-link fence and climbed the rusted fire escape of Leo's building.
She tapped lightly on his third-floor window, praying he was home and awake.
The window slid open, and Leo pulled her inside with a look of absolute panic on his face.
"Nadia, your face is all over the news, they are saying you killed a cop," he whispered frantically.
"It is a lie, Leo, they are trying to frame me to cover up a massive corruption ring," she explained quickly.
She pulled the USB drive from her pocket and slammed it onto his messy computer desk.
"I need you to bypass their network blockers and broadcast this footage to every news station in the state," she pleaded.
Leo hesitated for a moment, understanding the immense danger this task would bring to his doorstep.
He looked into his sister's desperate eyes and finally nodded, taking a seat at his glowing monitors.
His fingers flew across the keyboard with incredible speed, cracking codes and routing servers through proxy networks.
"I am in, Nadia, the files are uploading to a decentralized server right now," Leo announced with a triumphant smile.
The progress bar on the screen slowly crept past fifty percent, offering a brilliant glimmer of hope.
Suddenly, the heavy wooden door of the apartment was kicked off its hinges with a deafening crash.
A team of heavily armed SWAT officers poured into the small room, their laser sights dancing across Nadia's chest.
Behind the tactical team, Officer Borel stepped into the light with a cruel, victorious grin.
"You should really learn to lock your doors, Nadia," Borel sneered, raising his weapon.
Nadia stepped in front of Leo, shielding his body with her own.
"He has nothing to do with this, Borel, let him go," she demanded fiercely.
Borel laughed, stepping over the shattered remains of the apartment door.
"Unfortunately for him, he has seen too much to just walk away," the corrupt officer replied.
Borel grabbed the USB drive from the computer tower and crushed it under his heavy combat boot.
May you like
"Take the boy to the holding facility, and bring the girl to the Mayor," Borel ordered his men.
Leo screamed as two massive officers dragged him away, leaving Nadia completely helpless and disarmed.
