Chapter 10
The midnight rain lashed furiously against the windshield of Arthur’s vintage black sedan as it tore down the slick, empty downtown streets toward the towering monolith of Vance & Associates. Elena gripped the passenger-side handle tightly, her eyes fixed on the illuminated digital clock on the dashboard, which ticked past 1:15 AM with terrifying speed.
"Are you sure she has the biometric fob?" Elena asked over the rhythmic thumping of the windshield wipers. "Julian looked completely incapacitated when they hauled him out."
"Clara has spent three years studying every security flaw in Julian's department," Arthur replied, his hands gripping the steering wheel with practiced precision as he rounded a sharp corner on two wheels. "She knew how to override the secondary lock months ago. She just needed the distraction of her own disastrous wedding to make her move."
The car screeched to a halt in front of the gleaming glass-and-steel skyscraper that housed the corporate headquarters. The lobby was pitch black except for the amber emergency lights casting long, eerie shadows across the polished marble floors. Arthur killed the engine, and the two of them stepped out into the biting wind, hurrying toward the side service entrance.
"The main elevators are locked down by the federal warrant," Arthur whispered as they slipped through the heavy metal door into the stairwell. "We have to take the service stairs down to the sub-basement vault."
As they descended into the cool, concrete depths of the building, a faint, rhythmic mechanical grinding sound echoed up from below, like heavy steel gears turning after years of disuse. Elena paused on the landing, her hand resting on the cold metal railing. "Someone is already operating the vault door mechanism."
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"Clara," Arthur said grimly, quickening his pace. "Move, Elena. If she initiates the data purge protocol, all the digital backups will be wiped simultaneously."
They reached the heavy blast door of the sub-basement vault just as the massive steel wheel began to spin freely on its hinges with a loud click. Through the narrow reinforced glass window of the vault door, a familiar figure in a ruined, mud-stained white wedding dress could be seen frantically typing codes into the central terminal.
