Chapter 4 - The Mole
Adrian instantly tackled Claire to the floor just as a second bullet completely destroyed a crystal lamp.
Marcus immediately killed the penthouse lights, plunging the massive room into absolute, total darkness.
"Stay completely flat on the ground and do not move," Adrian hissed, hovering protectively over Claire's trembling body.
He quickly grabbed the black flash drive from the ruined coffee table and safely pocketed it.
The unseen sniper did not fire again, clearly realizing their initial surprise attack had completely failed.
"They actively tracked the GPS signal hidden deeply inside the flash drive," Marcus announced grimly from the dark shadows.
Adrian helped Claire crawl safely into the reinforced steel panic room secretly hidden behind a massive bookshelf.
The heavy vault doors locked tightly with a loud click, sealing them in absolute, terrifying silence.
"Only someone with supreme executive clearance could have ever helped Jeremy steal that ledger," Adrian muttered angrily.
He swiftly plugged the flash drive into a secure, offline terminal heavily mounted on the steel wall.
The bright screen illuminated the small room, displaying hundreds of highly classified, illegal shipping routes.
Claire watched closely as Adrian quickly scanned the digital access logs rapidly scrolling on the screen.
"Someone on the main administrative floor personally authorized Jeremy's restricted building access card," Adrian noted coldly.
Claire immediately thought about her incredibly cruel supervisor, Denise Crawford, who obsessively monitored all security logs.
"Denise was absolutely the only person working late the exact night Jeremy disappeared," Claire revealed nervously.
Adrian narrowed his striking gray eyes, his brilliant mind working rapidly through the tactical possibilities.
"We are going back to the office right now to have a little chat with Denise," he decided coldly.
They waited patiently until dawn before sneaking safely out through the underground tunnels beneath the penthouse.
They arrived quietly at the Vale Atlantic headquarters long before any of the regular employees clocked in.
Adrian easily bypassed the main security systems and led Claire directly to Denise's corner office.
He pushed the heavy wooden door completely open without bothering to knock.
Denise Crawford was sitting perfectly upright in her incredibly expensive ergonomic desk chair.
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However, she would absolutely never be able to answer any of their pressing questions.
Her throat had been brutally slit, and a bloody hunting knife was resting directly on Claire's desk keyboard.
