Chapter 9 - The Trap
The police officers raised their weapons, their laser sights painting red dots across my white shirt.
Marcus Vance stood safely behind them, his arrogance fully restored.
Chad was standing next to his father, holding his phone up to record our arrest.
"End of the line, Julian," Vance mocked.
"You broke into a building you no longer control to steal my proprietary data."
"You're going to prison for a very long time."
I raised my hands slowly, making sure not to make any sudden movements.
Emma stood frozen beside me, staring at the decryption bar on the monitor.
It was at ninety-two percent.
"Officer, I am the CEO of this company," I said calmly.
"I have every right to be in this room."
"Not anymore," David, the lead board member, said as he walked into the room.
"The board held an emergency vote an hour ago."
"You are officially terminated, Julian."
Vance laughed, placing a hand on David's shoulder.
"You see, Julian, money always wins in the end."
"Take them away, officers."
The lead officer stepped forward with handcuffs drawn.
I didn't resist, but I kept my eyes locked on the monitor behind Emma.
Ninety-six percent.
"You might want to wait a few seconds, officer," I suggested mildly.
"Shut him up!" Chad yelled, pointing his camera at my face.
"Look at this criminal, guys."
"He tried to assault me, and now he's getting exactly what he deserves."
Emma subtly shifted her weight, blocking the officers' view of the terminal screen.
Ninety-eight percent.
"I said, cuff him!" Vance demanded, his voice rising in panic.
The officer grabbed my wrists and snapped the cold steel around them.
"You have the right to remain silent," the officer began.
A loud chime echoed through the server room.
The decryption was complete.
Emma slammed her hand onto the enter key before anyone could stop her.
The massive wall of monitors in the server room instantly changed from blue to bright red.
"What did she just do?" Vance screamed, lunging toward the console.
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"I didn't steal your data, Marcus," I said, a slow smile spreading across my face.
"I just forwarded your embezzling ledger, complete with bank routing numbers, to the FBI, the SEC, and every major news outlet in the country."
