Chapter 7
Julian stood up smoothly from the table, adjusting the lapels of his grey suit with calm authority. He looked down at Clara, who stood by with a watchful, protective stance.
“I need to use the private executive terminal in the restaurant’s back office,” Julian said quietly. “Harrison keeps a direct fiber-optic uplink to corporate headquarters for late-night inventory management. I need to check the bio-lab supply logs from the past forty-eight hours.”
Clara frowned, scanning the dining room. “Harrison is still down there closing out the cash drawers. He won't just let you walk into his office and log into corporate servers without asking questions.”
“Harrison owes his restaurant’s liquor license to a zoning variance I personally approved three years ago,” Julian replied with quiet confidence. “He won’t ask questions. But someone needs to watch the hallway in case Marcus shakes off the police and makes it inside.”
“I’ll do it,” Clara said without hesitation. She picked up a stack of clean napkins, establishing a plausible reason for patrolling the service corridors. “I know every blind spot in this building. If anyone tries to approach the back office, I’ll stall them.”
Julian held her gaze for a second, silently assessing the young woman’s courage. There was an innate grit beneath her quiet demeanor that impressed him far more than any boardroom executive he had encountered in years. “Be careful, Clara. If Marcus gets past the police, he won’t hesitate to silence anyone in his way.”
Walking briskly down the dim, wood-paneled hallway toward the administrative office, Julian pushed open the heavy oak door without knocking. Harrison looked up from his dual-monitor desktop setup, startled, but his expression instantly softened into polite deference when he saw who had entered.
“Mr. Sterling! I wasn’t aware you needed assistance with your account tonight,” Harrison said, standing up quickly from his leather desk chair.
“A corporate security audit, Harrison. I need the terminal for five minutes,” Julian said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
May you like
Harrison swallowed nervously, sensing the heavy, unyielding pressure radiating from the businessman. “Of course, sir. Take whatever time you need. I’ll step out and check on the kitchen staff.”
As the manager hurried out the door, Julian slid into the leather chair and instantly plugged a biometric encryption key into the USB port. The terminal screen flickered to life, bypassing standard restaurant software and establishing a secure VPN tunnel directly into Sterling Enterprises’ main mainframe. Julian’s fingers flew across the keyboard, accessing the restricted bio-lab ledger. What he found made his blood run cold.
