Chapter 9 - The Price of a Legacy
"I don't know what you're talking about," Elena lied, her voice shaking despite her best efforts to keep it steady. She kept her fingers curled tightly around the plastic edge of the flash drive inside the dark recess.
The scarred man chuckled, a dry, humorless sound that echoed off the leather-bound bookshelves. "Save the dramatics, Ms. Sterling. Arthur is currently occupied downstairs trying to explain to his board members why the federal wire fraud division is downloading his entire server history. You can either give me the drive, or I can take it from your cold, lifeless fingers. Frankly, either option pays the same."
Elena’s mind raced. The red ring box was still in the pocket of her beige dress—a useless prop from a life that had ended less than an hour ago. She needed a distraction, something to buy thirty seconds.
"You think my father cares about me?" Elena spat out with sudden, calculated bitterness, tilting her chin up. "He built this entire empire on collateral damage. If you kill me right now, he won't mourn. He'll just write it off as a corporate restructuring."
The scarred man paused, his eyes narrowing as he weighed her words. For a fraction of a second, his focus shifted, calculating the psychological angle.
It was all the opening Elena needed.
With a violent yank, she pulled the flash drive and the ledger out of the compartment, threw the heavy leather book directly at the man's face, and sprinted toward the narrow service corridor hidden behind the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf.
The ledger bounced harmlessly off the man's tactical vest, but the sudden movement threw off his aim. A silenced round shattered the mahogany bookshelf just inches from Elena’s ear, showering her in splinters of old wood.
She didn't look back. She dove through the narrow service door, slamming it shut behind her and throwing the heavy iron deadbolt just as a heavy boot slammed against the other side, splintering the frame.
May you like
She was running blindly through the dark servants' quarters behind the walls, the flash drive gripped so hard in her fist that the plastic casing dug painfully into her palm.
---
