The Exit Strategy
"We need to get to the servers," Marcus ordered Julian, his corporate survival instincts kicking in. "If we can delete the source logs before the federal agents arrive with the warrant, we can claim the data was fabricated by a competitor."
Marcus pushed past Clara, heading toward the utility closet. Clara didn't try to stop him. She simply watched.
Marcus threw the door open, expecting to find a data terminal. Instead, he found an empty room. Arthur was gone, leaving behind only a single, small black thumb drive sitting on the center of a bare table, alongside a handwritten note.
Marcus picked up the note. It read: The truth is already everywhere.
"Where is he?" Marcus demanded, turning back to Clara.
"Far away," Clara said. "And I suggest you both leave before the building security changes their allegiances. When the ship sinks, the rats are always the first to be left behind."
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Julian slumped against a marble pillar, his face buried in his hands. "It's over. Everything is gone."
Clara walked past them, her black gown brushing against the shards of Marcus's broken glass. She didn't feel a surge of triumph. She felt an overwhelming lightness, as if a boulder she had been carrying for ten years had suddenly been lifted from her shoulders. But as she reached the exit, a cold thought struck her: The Vance family wasn't the only cog in this machine.
