Chapter 10
The rain continued to hammer against the city streets as Julian and Clara slipped out of the restaurant’s rear service exit and into the secure underground parking garage. Julian’s armored town car awaited them in its designated stall, its engine idling silently. Clara hesitated near the passenger door, looking back toward the glowing lights of the restaurant. Her shift was long over, and her body ached from the physical assault she had endured earlier that evening, but walking away was no longer an option. Her life had intersected with a high-stakes corporate conspiracy, and she was now an essential piece of the puzzle.
“Where are we going, Mr. Sterling?” Clara asked, sliding into the plush leather passenger seat as Julian took the wheel himself, bypassing his usual chauffeur.
“We are going to Sterling Biotech’s downtown R&D facility,” Julian said, his eyes fixed on the garage exit ramp. “Arthur Pendelton keeps a twenty-four-hour laboratory on the top floor of the corporate tower. If we wait until morning, he and Elena will wipe the servers clean and catch a private flight out of the country. We end this tonight.”
As the town car merged into the slick, rain-swept downtown traffic, Julian’s phone buzzed continuously with encrypted updates from David Vance. The security team was positioning units around the corporate tower, locking down every digital and physical exit to ensure no one could slip away with the incriminating evidence.
Clara watched the neon city lights streak past the window, her mind racing. “How do we get past corporate security at this hour? Even with your clearance, an executive arriving unannounced at midnight with a bruised waitress will raise immediate red flags.”
“We don't go in through the front lobby,” Julian replied coolly, turning the steering wheel sharply into an underground service alley. “We use the loading bay elevator reserved for sensitive material transport. And you aren't a waitress anymore tonight, Clara. You’re my chief digital forensics consultant.”
May you like
Clara looked down at her white button-up shirt and black bow tie, then offered a faint, determined smile. “A promotion, at least.”
The town car glided to a halt in front of the secure bay doors of the Sterling Biotech tower. Julian punched his master security code into the exterior wall keypad, and the heavy steel shutters ranted upward with a mechanical groan. The trap was closing around Elena Vance and Arthur Pendelton, but as Julian stepped out of the vehicle into the cold industrial basement, he knew they were walking directly into the lions' den.
