Chapter 5
Before Arthur could respond, a sharp, repetitive chime echoed from the mahogany desk. The amber desk lamp flickered slightly as the secure terminal in the corner of the room flashed a crimson warning light. Arthur stood up abruptly, his pinstripe suit rustling as he strode across the Persian rug to the computer console. He tapped his security badge against the biometric scanner and punched in a rapid sequence on the encrypted mechanical keyboard.
"What is it?" Elena asked, standing up from her chair and walking over to join him, her nursing instincts kicking in as she assessed the situation as an emergency.
"A remote override," Arthur muttered, his fingers flying across the keys with surprising speed for a man of sixty. "Someone is attempting to wipe the donor database and reroute the remaining gala endowment funds to an offshore account in the Caymans. The authorization code... it's Julianna's master admin key."
"She's doing it from her phone," Elena realized, horror dawning in her eyes. "Even as she was being escorted out by security, she must have triggered the automated script. Can you block it?"
"I can try, but she has level-one clearance," Arthur grunted, sweat beading on his forehead as he fought the automated firewall protocols that Julianna had covertly installed years prior. "She designed the system to lock out secondary administrators in the event of an emergency override."
Clara maneuvered her wheelchair closer to the desk, peering intently at the lines of crimson code scrolling down the secondary monitor. "Look at the routing node, Arthur. She’s not using the main terminal in the lobby. She’s pinging from the basement server room near the emergency generator. She must have stashed a secondary hardware token down there during setup."
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Arthur stopped typing for a fraction of a second, his jaw tightening. "The sub-basement. The security cameras down there are on an analog loop that doesn't route to the main control desk." He looked up from the screen, his gaze meeting Elena's determined eyes. "Elena, I need you to stay here with your grandmother. I’m going down there."
"No, Mr. Sterling," Elena said firmly, stepping between him and the door. "You’re sixty years old in a tailored pinstripe suit, and Julianna is desperate. If she’s cornered in the server room, she won't hesitate to play dirty. Let me come with you. I know the hospital layout better than anyone, and I can handle myself."
