Chapter 6 - The Ticking Clock
The heavy silence inside the steel safe room was broken only by the sound of ragged breathing.
Julian immediately checked the digital control panel on the wall.
The timer was glowing bright red, slowly counting down from nineteen minutes and forty seconds.
Camille dropped to her knees and hugged Elsie incredibly tight, kissing the top of her daughter's head over and over.
"I am so sorry I brought this danger into your home, Julian," Camille whispered, her voice shaking violently.
Julian knelt beside her and gently wiped a streak of dirt from her bruised cheek.
"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for," Julian said with firm conviction.
He realized in that desperate moment that he cared far more about this woman and her child than his entire criminal empire.
Rex whined softly and rested his heavy head on Elsie's lap.
Julian stood up and began systematically searching the steel walls for any weakness in the ventilation system.
"Bennett is right about the protocol," Julian admitted grimly.
"The room is designed to incinerate sensitive documents if compromised, and it will suck the oxygen out to feed the fire," Julian explained.
Camille stood up, her dark eyes filled with a sudden, fierce determination.
"If he wants the ledger, we can use it to negotiate our way out," Camille suggested desperately.
"I truly don't know where it is, but I can lie to him and buy us time," she offered.
Julian shook his head and pointed down at the little girl sitting on the floor.
Elsie was holding her green crayon again, drawing a circle on a specific metal floor tile.
She reached into her small dress pocket and pulled out a plastic, brightly colored toy block.
The block had a small, barely noticeable seam running down its plastic side.
Julian gently took the toy from her hands and applied pressure to the plastic edges.
The block popped open, revealing a tiny, black encrypted USB drive perfectly nestled inside.
The two billion dollar ledger had been sitting in his courtyard being washed with a dog all afternoon.
Julian plugged the drive into the safe room's secure terminal to verify its contents.
The screen illuminated with endless strings of offshore account numbers and routing codes.
Julian tapped the intercom button to speak directly to the bleeding traitor on the other side of the steel door.
"I have the drive, Bennett, and I am initiating a permanent wipe of the data right now," Julian bluffed coldly.
Bennett's voice came through the speaker, breathless and filled with pure malice.
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"Go ahead and wipe it, Julian," Bennett laughed weakly.
"The timer isn't for the fire anymore; I bypassed the system to flood the room with neurotoxin in exactly five minutes," Bennett revealed.
