Chapter 5
The coarse fabric of the yellow dress dug sharply into Clara's collarbone as Dr. Harrison hauled her upward, his breath hot and sour against her ear.
"Don't play games with me, you ungrateful little brat," he growled, shaking her once before dropping her back into the leather seat with a jarring thud that sent a spike of white-hot pain through her bandaged head.
"I've tolerated your defiance long enough. If you don't fork over that thumb drive right now, I swear I'll take that wheelchair apart piece by piece and leave you crawling on the floor."
Clara bit down hard on her lower iron until she tasted the sharp, metallic tang of blood, refusing to let him see her cry.
"I told you, I don't have it," she rasped, gasping for air as she clutched her aching head with both hands.
"Leo took it with him when he ran toward the woods."
Dr. Harrison stared at her for a long, agonizing moment, his chest heaving as he tried to determine if she was lying. Abruptly, he let out a harsh breath, shoved her chair away from him, and strode across the room to the shattered computer console. He knelt down amidst the broken plastic and tangled wires, flipping over the heavy metal CPU tower until the back panel faced the light. With trembling fingers, he began prying at the internal hard drive bay, muttering curses under his breath as he realized the primary backup disk had already been removed from the machine.
"Clever little rats," Dr. Harrison muttered to himself, his face twisting in rage as he looked back over his shoulder at Clara.
"He didn't just take a copy; he wiped the local cache entirely."
While Dr. Harrison's back was turned, Clara noticed a small, blinking blue light emanating from beneath the heavy mahogany executive desk behind him. It was a secondary emergency terminal—an old analog communication system that her father had installed years ago, completely disconnected from the house's main digital network. A tiny slip of paper was wedged into the keyboard slot, illuminated by the blinking light. Without making a sound, Clara unlocked the wheels of her chair and let gravity pull her silently across the thick Persian rug until she was directly behind the desk, her fingers stretching out toward the glowing console.
"What are you doing over there?" Dr. Harrison barked, suddenly spinning around on his heels.
May you like
Clara froze, her fingertips brushing against the plastic casing of the terminal just as the screen flickered to life, displaying a single, terrifying line of text: SYSTEM BREACH DETECTED. AUTHORIZED OVERRIDE FAILED. LOCKDOWN ENGAGED IN 60 SECONDS.
Dr. Harrison lunged across the room with a roar of pure fury, his hand shooting out to grab the edge of the desk just as Clara hit the enter key with her palm.
