Chapter 11 - The Countdown in the Courtroom
The digital display on the face of the improvised explosive device glowed with a harsh, rhythmic red light, ticking down from two minutes and forty-five seconds as it sat securely inside the open leather briefcase on the judge’s podium. Judge Harrison recoiled in sheer terror, his chair rolling backward violently against the oak paneling behind him as he knocked over his ceramic coffee mug.
"Everybody down! Code black, active explosive in the courtroom!" Agent Miller roared, instantly drawing his sidearm and shoving Julian and Maya behind the heavy oak partition of the front row bench.
Victoria stood frozen behind the podium, her fingers hovering inches from the flashing keypad of the detonator, a manic, unhinged light dancing in her eyes as she looked down at the federal agents with absolute contempt.
"You think you can lock us out of our own empire with a few federal warrants and a recovery drive?" Victoria screamed, her voice cracking as the carefully maintained illusion of her corporate poise completely disintegrated. "If I don't own this legacy, nobody does!"
Julian shielded Maya beneath his body, pressing her face against the rough tweed of his brown suit coat while his mind raced desperately through the layout of the historic courtroom.
"Miller, the ventilation grate behind the judge's bench!" Julian shouted over the rhythmic, terrifying beep of the timer. "It leads directly to the exterior maintenance shaft on the roof!"
Agent Miller didn't hesitate; he signaled two tactical officers who had just swarmed through the gallery doors, directing them to flank the raised dais while he kept his weapon aimed squarely at Victoria’s chest.
"Victoria Vance, step away from the briefcase immediately or we will use lethal force!" Miller commanded, his voice absolute and unyielding.
Victoria laughed wildly, her fingers twitching just above the disarm button as the timer ticked past the one-minute mark.
"The remote trigger is synced to my heartbeat monitor, agents! If you shoot me, the signal drops and the charge detonates instantly!" Victoria bluffed, her eyes darting toward the side exit.
Maya gently tugged at Julian’s sleeve, her small face pale but her eyes remarkably clear as she pointed toward the smart-house master tablet Julian had left sitting on the gallery bench.
"Daddy, the briefcase uses the estate's private Wi-Fi network to verify the encryption key," Maya whispered urgently. "You can override it from the tablet."
Julian’s eyes widened as he realized the brilliance of the child's observation; the explosive device wasn't hardwired to a local timer alone—it was tethered to the very server rack they had seized from the grandfather clock back at the mansion.
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With a burst of adrenaline, Julian scrambled across the floor toward the gallery bench, snatching the tablet into his hands just as the timer hit thirty seconds, his thumbs flying across the glass screen to enter the master override command as red error codes flashed frantically across the display.
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