Chapter 10 – The Trap
Chapter 10 – The Trap
No one touched the envelope.
It rested in the center of the conference table like an unexploded bomb.
Across the front, Daniel Mercer's handwriting remained unmistakable.
Cassidy, your grandfather lied to you.
Robert Langford stared at it for several seconds before looking toward Cassidy.
"Do you want to open it?"
She shook her head.
"Not yet."
Arthur understood immediately.
"If Daniel wrote it..."
"...he expected us to read it now."
Cassidy nodded.
"Which means he wanted to control the timing."
William Ashford had taught her one lesson more than any other.
Never let your opponent decide when you react.
Arthur slid the envelope into an evidence bag.
"It stays sealed."
Margaret nodded in approval.
"If it's genuine, we'll examine it."
"If it's bait..."
Arthur finished.
"...it won't distract us."
An investigator hurried into the room.
"Mr. Bennett."
Arthur turned.
"What is it?"
"We've lost connection to Archive Server Four."
The room stiffened.
"What do you mean lost?"
"It just went offline."
Margaret frowned.
"That server isn't connected to the public network."
"It shouldn't be possible."
The investigator swallowed.
"Someone with administrator privileges issued a remote wipe."
Arthur was already moving toward the door.
"To the data center."
Cassidy stood.
"I'm coming."
Robert started to object.
Then stopped.
It was her company.
If someone was trying to erase its history...
She had every right to be there.
Three floors below, the Executive Data Center sat behind reinforced steel doors.
Biometric scanners.
Dual-key authentication.
Independent backup power.
William had insisted on every safeguard.
As the doors slid open, a blast of cold air rolled into the hallway.
Technicians rushed between server racks.
Alarm lights flashed red.
One engineer looked up.
"Mr. Bennett!"
"Status."
"We stopped the deletion at forty-three percent."
Arthur exhaled.
"What was targeted?"
The engineer hesitated.
"Not financial records."
"Then what?"
He turned his monitor.
Personnel files.
Board correspondence.
Executive investigations.
Every document connected to Brendan Monroe.
Margaret narrowed her eyes.
"He isn't stealing money."
Arthur nodded.
"He's erasing witnesses."
A technician called out from the far side of the room.
"I found the access point."
Arthur hurried over.
"Show me."
The engineer enlarged the activity log.
Remote login.
Administrator credentials.
Authorized twenty-three minutes earlier.
Location...
Executive Office Suite.
Brendan's office.
Arthur frowned.
"He can't access the building."
The security chief answered from behind him.
"He never entered."
"Then how?"
The technician zoomed in again.
The connection hadn't originated inside the office.
It came from a laptop.
Hidden inside the building's abandoned conference center.
"He's still here."
Arthur said quietly.
Within seconds, Corporate Security spread through the executive floors.
Elevators locked.
Emergency exits sealed.
Every hallway monitored.
The building became a fortress.
Meanwhile...
Two floors below...
Inside a forgotten conference room...
Brendan Monroe stared at six computer screens.
His expensive suit jacket had been discarded.
His sleeves were rolled to his elbows.
Sweat covered his forehead.
The deletion bar crawled painfully slowly.
46%...
He slammed the keyboard.
"Come on..."
Beside him stood another man.
A freelance cybersecurity consultant Brendan had secretly hired months earlier.
"They're fighting the wipe."
"I paid you five million dollars."
"You paid me to start it."
The consultant looked nervous.
"I didn't promise it'd finish."
Brendan clenched his fists.
"If they recover those files..."
He didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't have to.
Every email.
Every fake invoice.
Every deleted complaint.
Every payment.
Everything would become public.
His burner phone vibrated.
One message.
From an unknown number.
Phase Two.
Proceed immediately.
Brendan's heartbeat accelerated.
He typed back.
Where are you?
The reply came instantly.
Watching.
He looked around the empty room.
No one.
Only the humming servers beyond the walls.
Yet someone clearly knew exactly what was happening.
Back in the data center...
A technician shouted.
"We've isolated the signal."
Arthur looked up.
"Location?"
"Conference Center B."
Security teams immediately moved.
Brendan heard footsteps.
Heavy.
Fast.
Closer.
He looked toward the consultant.
"They're here."
The consultant grabbed his backpack.
"I'm leaving."
"You can't."
"I absolutely can."
He bolted through the rear exit.
Leaving Brendan alone.
Arthur reached the conference center seconds later.
The first security officer kicked open the door.
Empty.
Six monitors still glowing.
The laptop remained on the table.
Its screen flashed:
REMOTE SESSION TERMINATED
Arthur scanned the room.
"Where is he?"
An officer pointed.
"Service corridor."
Brendan sprinted through the maintenance tunnels beneath Blackstone Tower.
He had discovered them years earlier during a renovation project.
Few employees even knew they existed.
He smiled for the first time all night.
If he reached the underground parking garage...
He still had one final move.
Arthur's radio crackled.
"Subject moving south."
"Block Garage Three."
"Already done."
"Garage Four?"
"Locked."
Arthur frowned.
"He knows the building."
Cassidy answered quietly.
"So do I."
She suddenly changed direction.
Arthur followed.
"Where are you going?"
"My grandfather designed this tower."
She pointed toward an old freight elevator.
"There's another exit."
Arthur's expression changed.
"The archive tunnel."
She nodded.
"He used it during construction."
They reached the tunnel entrance just as the steel door began to open from the inside.
Brendan froze.
Cassidy stood directly in front of him.
For a brief moment...
Neither moved.
"You."
Brendan whispered.
Cassidy looked at him calmly.
"It's over."
He laughed.
"No."
He held up a small black flash drive.
"It isn't."
Arthur immediately recognized it.
The offline archive backup.
Every deleted file Brendan had managed to copy before the security lockdown.
Brendan smiled.
"You think this is about prison?"
He shook his head.
"This is leverage."
He looked directly at Cassidy.
"Give me controlling shares."
"I disappear."
"Refuse..."
He lifted the flash drive.
"...and every secret your grandfather buried becomes public."
Cassidy didn't answer.
She simply watched him.
"You still don't understand."
Brendan frowned.
"What?"
"My grandfather expected people like you."
Arthur slowly smiled.
"So did I."
Brendan's confidence wavered.
Arthur reached into his pocket.
Then calmly placed another flash drive on the floor between them.
An identical one.
"The copy you stole..."
Arthur said quietly.
"...contains encrypted mirror files."
Brendan stared.
"So?"
"So it only works if authenticated by the original server."
Arthur folded his arms.
"Without the encryption key..."
"It's useless."
Brendan looked down at his own drive.
Then back at Arthur.
"You’re bluffing."
Margaret's voice echoed from behind.
"No."
She stepped into the tunnel holding a forensic report.
"We embedded decoy archives after Protocol Seven activated."
She smiled faintly.
"You stole the bait."
For the first time...
Real fear appeared in Brendan's eyes.
He suddenly shoved Cassidy aside and ran.
Arthur lunged after him.
Security officers flooded the corridor.
Brendan reached the end of the tunnel...
Only to find every exit blocked.
He turned.
Cornered.
Breathing hard.
His eyes darted wildly around the room.
Then...
He smiled.
Arthur frowned.
"What?"
Brendan slowly raised his phone.
"You think I came back..."
"...just for the files?"
He pressed one button.
Somewhere deep inside Blackstone Tower...
A loud explosion echoed through the building.
The lights flickered.
Emergency alarms screamed to life.
Technicians shouted over the radio.
Arthur grabbed his earpiece.
"What happened?"
The answer came immediately.
"Substation Three just exploded!"
Another voice broke in.
"It's a diversion!"
Then a third.
"No..."
The engineer sounded terrified.
"It's worse."
Arthur's face went pale.
"What?"
The engineer took a shaky breath.
"The explosion wasn't aimed at the servers."
A long pause.
"It was aimed at..."
He checked the security feed one last time.
"...the vault containing William Ashford's original records."
Brendan smiled through bloodied lips.
"You were all protecting the wrong evidence."
And somewhere beneath Blackstone Tower...
May you like
Flames began creeping across the one archive William Ashford had believed no one would ever find.
End of Chapter 10
