Chapter 12
The sudden darkness was absolute, broken only by the harsh yellow beams of the delivery truck's headlights cutting through the concrete dust. Marcus gripped the flash drive tightly in his fist, his heart pounding against his ribs as the heavy sound of approaching boots echoed from the stairwell ramp.
"Perimeter breach!" Vance shouted into his shoulder radio, drawing his service pistol with a sharp metallic snap. "All units, we have an armed intrusion in the underground garage!"
Marcus didn't wait for orders. He sprinted through the dark toward the secure bay where the classic blue Chevrolet sat waiting under a dim emergency light. The truck's headlights flickered to life as he approached, recognizing the proximity key fob in his pocket.
He yanked open the driver's side door, slid behind the steering wheel, and slammed the heavy metal door shut, locking it manually from the inside.
The dashboard glowed with a soft blue luminescence. Marcus reached beneath the steering column, sliding the mysterious flash drive into the hidden auxiliary port he had installed two weeks ago.
A red warning light on the dash blinked rapidly, followed by a synthetic voice chiming softly: Data transfer initiated. Secure connection established.
Outside, the crack of a suppressed firearm echoed off the concrete walls. A stray bullet sparked against the concrete pillar three feet from the truck door.
Marcus looked through the windshield. In the sweeping beam of the delivery truck's headlights, he saw three figures in tactical gear advancing down the ramp, their weapons raised toward the classic Chevrolet.
Agent Vance was pinned behind a concrete structural support, returning fire with controlled, measured shots.
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Marcus watched the progress bar on the dashboard screen tick upward: 75%... 80%... 85%...
If the system wiped before the download completed, all the evidence proving the conspiracy would vanish forever into the digital ether.
