Chapter 8 - The Bargain
I froze completely, feeling the freezing steel of the suppressor pushing aggressively against my hair.
Maya gasped in horror, slowly raising her hands as two more masked syndicate members stepped out from the tall vines.
Valerius walked slowly around me, keeping his weapon trained securely on my chest.
His expensive gray suit was entirely ruined, covered in soot and the blood of his fallen men.
"Your family put up a surprisingly violent fight, Claire," Valerius admitted with a dangerous smirk.
"But the police are exactly two minutes away, and I do not intend to be here when they arrive."
He pulled a small, high-tech electronic tablet from his jacket pocket and held it out toward me.
"Log into your bank portal and transfer the deed to my holding company right now," he demanded.
I looked at the bright screen, knowing that if I gave him what he wanted, he would immediately execute both of us.
"If I do this, you have no reason to keep us alive," I said, my voice remarkably steady despite the terror gripping my heart.
Valerius chuckled, a cold sound that carried no genuine amusement.
"You are very smart, Claire, just like your father," he praised mockingly.
"But if you refuse, I will simply shoot your brave friend Maya in the stomach and let you watch her bleed out."
One of the masked guards immediately aimed his assault rifle directly at Maya's trembling body.
I had absolutely no choice left.
I took the tablet with shaking hands, my bloody fingers leaving smears across the pristine glass screen.
I typed in my banking credentials, navigating slowly to the secure property holding section.
As I prepared to authorize the massive digital transfer, I remembered a tiny detail about my father's old accounting software.
He had once taught me a silent duress protocol hidden within his specific encryption keys.
Instead of typing the correct authorization pin, I slowly entered the exact birthdate of my late mother.
The tablet screen suddenly flashed a bright, solid red color before displaying a massive system error message.
"What did you just do?" Valerius demanded, his calm facade finally cracking with genuine anger.
"I just permanently locked the account," I lied bravely. "The only way to unlock it now is physically inside a federal bank branch."
Valerius raised his pistol, aiming it directly between my eyes in a fit of absolute rage.
May you like
Suddenly, a massive, muddy figure tackled Valerius violently from the side, sending the gun flying into the darkness.
It was Adrian, burned and bleeding, holding a jagged piece of broken glass.
