Chapter 5 - The Encrypted Trap
The progress bar on the car’s screen ticked upward with agonizing slowness: 42 percent... 61 percent... 83 percent. Elena held her breath, her eyes darting constantly between the glowing monitor and the security camera mounted directly above their parking spot. The red recording light on the lens seemed to blink back at her in mockery.
"Come on, Julian. Hurry," she whispered into the empty cabin, her fingers drumming a frantic, uneven rhythm against the passenger seat.
Suddenly, the download paused at 94 percent. A warning box flashed in bold red letters across the screen: ENCRYPTION PROTOCOL DETECTED. ACCESS RESTRICTED BY ADMINISTRATOR.
Elena’s blood ran cold. A secondary firewall must have activated automatically when the system detected a foreign port. She reached out to pull the flash drive free, but before her fingers could touch it, the screen went completely black. A single line of text typed itself out slowly in bright green font against the dark background: WELCOME, JULIAN. WE HAVE BEEN EXPECTING YOU.
Before Elena could scream, the garage doors above them began to grind loudly as they locked shut with heavy iron deadbolts. Headlights flashed on in the darkness behind her. Two black SUV engines roared to life simultaneously, cutting off any exit route and trapping the rented sedan in a suffocating pincer movement.
From the driver's side window of the leading SUV, a familiar figure stepped out into the harsh fluorescent light of the parking garage. It was Richard Vance, his graying hair slightly disheveled, wearing an expensive cashmere overcoat over his pajamas. He held a silver keycard in one hand and a mobile phone pressed to his ear with the other, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his face.
"Well, well, well," Richard called out into the echoing concrete space, his voice dripping with condescending amusement. "Looks like someone forgot to teach the little boy that curiosity killed the cat."
Elena slammed her hand down on the horn, the deafening blast echoing off the concrete walls, but Richard didn't even flinch. He simply gestured with his phone, and two armed private security guards in black tactical gear stepped out from the shadows, their hands resting menacingly on the holsters at their hips.
"Open the door, Elena," Richard commanded, tapping his watch against his wrist. "You’re only making this worse for yourself. Marcus is already on his way down from the penthouse. He wants to have a little family reunion before we hand the boy over to the authorities for corporate trespassing and industrial sabotage."
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Elena locked the doors frantically, her fingers shaking so hard she could barely find the release latch. "Get out of here, Julian!" she yelled toward the back seat, only to realize with a sickening jolt that the back seat was completely empty.
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