Chapter 10 - Checkmate in Glass
"It's a dead man's switch," Dante muttered, his fingers flying across the keyboard with blinding speed as lines of green code cascaded down the monitor. "Julian anticipated someone accessing the master terminal remotely or locally. The system is attempting to wipe the drives."
"Can you stop it?" I asked, stepping close to him, my hand resting on his shoulder as I watched the deletion progress bar tick upward: *78%... 81%...*
"Give me thirty seconds," Dante gritted out, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Suddenly, the heavy double doors at the end of the marble hallway blew inward with a deafening crash. Smoke billowed into the suite as a dozen heavily armored private security contractors poured into the room, their assault rifles raised, led by a ruthless-looking mercenary captain.
"Don't move! Hands where I can see them!" the captain roared, sweeping his rifle barrel toward Dante and me.
Viktor and Dante’s guards returned fire instantly, diving behind mahogany desks as a hail of lead shattered the expensive art installations and pulverized the marble columns. The office erupted into a chaotic symphony of gunfire, shattered glass, and shouting voices.
I pulled Leo down behind a heavy leather sofa, shielding his small body with my own as bullets whined overhead, chipping chunks off the stone wall behind us.
"Dante!" I screamed over the din of battle.
"Almost... there!" Dante roared back, his eyes locked on the monitor.
*98%... 99%... Transfer Complete.*
With a sharp *click*, the crimson emergency lights snapped off, replaced by the cool blue glow of the master terminal. The deletion process halted, and instead, a high-pitched alarm began to wail as the encrypted ledger was simultaneously broadcasted to Interpol, the Serious Fraud Office, and every major financial news outlet in Europe.
"It's done," Dante breathed, standing up from the desk with his Sig Sauer drawn. With two rapid shots, he took out the two mercenaries flanking the captain, while Viktor dispatched the rest.
The mercenary captain dropped his weapon, coughing as Viktor shoved him hard against the glass wall, a knife pressed against his throat.
"It's over," Dante said coldly, walking over to the captain and pressing the barrel of his gun against the man's forehead. "Tell me where Julian is holding the original physical titles to the Carter estate."
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The captain smirked, blood trickling from his lip. "You’re too late, Carter. Julian isn't at the station. And he isn't here. Right now, he’s boarding a private jet at Farnborough airfield... and he took your precious sister with him as leverage."
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