Chapter 6 - The Inside Threat
The amber warning lights flashed rhythmically against the dark wood paneling of the conference room. Jonathan punched a series of override codes into his master console, but the screens remained locked behind a wall of scrolling binary code that defied manual intervention.
"The firewall is rejecting my administrative token," Jonathan cursed, his fingers flying across the mechanical keyboard with practiced desperation. "Someone has escalated privileges from within the local area network. They’re using a high-level bypass key."
Julia rushed to the door, pulling it open to check the dimly lit hallway outside. The corridor was empty, save for the hum of the overhead vents and the steady drip of a malfunctioning sprinkler head somewhere down the hall.
"Leo," Julia said, her eyes fixed on the boy standing by the table. "You said you kept copies of everything on your encrypted cloud folder. Are those servers still accessible?"
Leo pulled out his smartphone, his thumb tapping the screen with practiced speed. The restricted access icon flickered, shifting from amber to a stubborn, unyielding red.
"They’re trying to brute-force the encryption keys," Leo reported, his voice devoid of panic, though his lower lip trembled slightly. "The download speeds are dropping. Someone is throttling our bandwidth from the server room on the fourth floor."
"The fourth floor," Jonathan muttered, stopping his frantic typing. "That’s where the physical backup tapes are housed. The building security system should have tripped the biometric scanners the second an unauthorized user swiped a master card."
"Unless they didn't use a card," a smooth, unfamiliar voice echoed from the shadows near the open doorway.
All three heads snapped toward the sound. Stepping out from the alcove near the architectural models was a tall man in an expensive charcoal overcoat. He wore rimless glasses that caught the blue light of the monitors, and a thin, ironic smile played at the corners of his mouth.
"Marcus," Jonathan breathed, standing up from his chair and placing himself instinctively between the intruder and the twelve-year-old boy.
"Hello, Jonathan," Marcus Sterling said, casually removing his leather gloves and tossing them onto the nearest side table. "You look well for a man sitting on top of a collapsing financial pyramid."
Leo stared at the man who looked so much like his father, yet carried himself with an effortless, predatory grace that Arthur had always lacked.
"You’re the one wiping the backups," Leo said, his voice ringing clearly across the silent room.
Marcus turned his gaze toward the boy, his eyes narrowing with a mix of amusement and cold calculation. "Well, well. Arthur always said the boy was a slow learner, but it seems he inherited his mother’s sharp tongue after all. Or did you learn how to mirror database protocols from watching YouTube tutorials, young man?"
"I learned from the best," Leo replied, stepping forward until he stood beside Jonathan. "From the security logs you left behind when you tried to rob this company twenty years ago."
Marcus’s smile vanished for a fraction of a second, replaced by a flash of hard steel. He took two measured steps into the room, his overcoat brushing against the teak table.
"Those charges were expunged, child," Marcus said softly, though the menace in his tone was unmistakable. "Just as these current charges against Arthur will be once I take control of the primary holding trust."
"You don't have the master key," Leo countered, tapping his jacket pocket where the brass key rested. "And without it, those offshore accounts are nothing more than digital garbage."
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Marcus laughed, a dry, humorless sound that echoed off the glass windows. "Do you really think your mother kept the only copy of that key in her jewelry box, Leo?"
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