Chapter 5 - The Unmasking of a Traitor
The basement was flooded with the sharp, artificial blue light of the mainframe terminals.
Standing in front of my personal archive locker was a man in a tailored grey suit, his silver hair immaculate despite the midnight storm.
Arthur Vance.
"You always did keep excellent records, Elena," he said without turning around, his hand holding a glowing data drive plugged into my terminal.
"The location of the offshore syndicate funds... you hid them right beneath the local historical archives."
"You let our daughter get beaten for a piece of data, Arthur?" I asked, my voice dropping into a register that made the server fans sound loud.
Arthur turned around slowly, the cold, calculated expression of a career politician perfectly fixed on his face.
"Chloe is a temporary asset, Elena," he said casually, tossing the data drive into his pocket.
"With this ledger, the syndicate will clear my debts, and I will take my seat on the executive board in Europe next week."
"You won't make it out of this county, Arthur," I said, stepping into the light, revealing the heavy weapon I had recovered from the hospital vault.
Arthur chuckled, a sound completely devoid of any human warmth or parental regret.
May you like
"You won't shoot me, Elena," he smirked, pointing a small remote detonator toward the ceiling structure.
"The moment my heart rate drops, the emergency gas valves in the hospital wing upstairs will open completely."
