Chapter 13
Standing in the doorway was the head of the board’s internal security team, flanked by two heavy-set guards holding tactical batons. His dark suit was immaculate, his expression cold and devoid of any humanity. He looked at Marcus, Claire, and Arthur with an air of profound disappointment.
"I expected better from you, Marcus," the security director said, stepping into the room with slow, deliberate strides. "You had a bright future at this firm. Throwing it all away for a dead man and a disgruntled embezzler is remarkably foolish."
Marcus didn't stand up from the terminal. He kept his hand resting near the keyboard, watching the progress bar on the screen tick past seventy-five percent. "The game is over, Vance. The files are syncing with federal servers right now. You can't stop it."
The director smiled thinly, shaking his head. "We don't need to stop the sync. We just need to make sure none of you are around to testify when the indictments come down."
The two guards advanced into the room, their batons raised. Arthur stepped forward defensively, trying to shield the terminal, but one of the guards struck him across the shoulder with a heavy blow, sending the older man crashing into a server rack. Arthur slid to the floor, groaning in pain as the metal toolbox slipped from his hands.
"Arthur!" Claire yelled, rushing to his side.
Marcus leaped up from the chair, throwing himself between the advancing security director and the computer console. The progress bar hit ninety percent. The sync was almost complete.
"You're too late!" Marcus shouted, bracing himself as the first guard swung his baton. Marcus ducked the blow, countering with a sharp right hook that caught the guard square in the jaw, sending him stumbling backward into a stack of spare equipment.
The director stepped forward, drawing a heavy metal flashlight from his belt, his eyes blazing with fury. "You fool, you've ruined everything."
Before the director could strike, Claire grabbed the heavy metal toolbox from the floor and hurled it with all her remaining strength, catching the director behind the knees and bringing him crashing down hard onto the marble floor.
Marcus lunged back to the terminal. The screen flashed a brilliant, blinding green.
May you like
Sync Complete. All data transferred successfully to federal oversight authorities.
The red emergency lights in the hallway suddenly flashed as automated security klaxons began to wail, signaling that federal servers had automatically dispatched local law enforcement to the corporate address. The game was truly over.
