Chapter 5 - The Shattered Frame
The harsh metallic roar of the police megaphone echoed faintly through the receiver before the line went dead with a sharp, electronic click.
Maya stared at the black screen of the burner phone, her reflection staring back at her like a stranger. The car slowed down, turning off the main highway and pulling into the deserted parking lot of an abandoned industrial warehouse on the outskirts of town.
Victor killed the engine, turning fully in his seat to face her.
"Your father just walked right into the trap they laid for both of you," Victor said, his voice entirely devoid of sympathy. "The feds have a warrant based on the exact server logs Julian uploaded from your personal laptop. Unless we prove who actually accessed the network, Mark is going away for twenty years."
Maya gripped the edges of her grey hoodie, her knuckles turning white. "You said you wanted revenge against Julian and Elena. If you have the real server logs, why haven't you turned them in?"
A thin, cold smile touched Victor’s lips. "Because the police don't care about cyber-extortion rings run by rogue operatives unless there’s a high-profile arrest. And right now, Julian and Elena are sitting in a private lounge at the municipal airport, waiting for a private jet to take them out of the country with three million dollars in bearer bonds."
Maya’s eyes widened. "They're leaving?"
"Tonight," Victor nodded, reaching into his coat to pull out a heavy, tactical-grade tablet. He spun it toward her. On the screen was a live security feed of the private aviation terminal, showing Julian in his black jacket and Elena in her brown leather jacket casually checking their boarding passes at a private gate. "Unless we intercept them before that Gulfstream clears the runway, they disappear forever, and your father takes the fall for every single dollar they stole."
Maya looked from the tablet screen to the heavy brass key resting in her palm. The pieces of the puzzle clicked together with terrifying clarity. The key didn't just open a safety deposit box at the station; it opened the physical lockbox where Julian kept the hard copies of the offshore transfer receipts—the undeniable proof that exonerated her father completely.
"We need to get to that terminal," Maya said, her voice dropping all hesitation.
Victor raised an eyebrow, a flicker of genuine respect crossing his scarred features. "Smart girl. But security at the private airstrip is biometric. You can't just walk through the front gate."
"I don't need to walk through the front gate," Maya replied, her eyes narrowing as she remembered the maintenance blueprints of the airfield she had studied for a school architecture project the previous semester. "There’s an old drainage utility tunnel that runs right beneath the tarmac, fifty yards from their hangar."
May you like
Victor stared at her for a long, silent moment before letting out a sharp bark of laughter. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go ruin some vacation plans."
---
