Chapter 5 - The Corporate Trap
I didn't run. I couldn't.
Instead, I gripped the USB drive tightly in my fist, my thumb pressing down on the small, emergency transmitter button I had borrowed from Harborview's security desk.
"You can take the drive," I said, my voice steady, though my knees were shaking. "But it won't save Marcus. The decryption key is linked to my firm's secure cloud. If I don't input my biometric password every sixty minutes, the entire ledger is automatically sent to the FBI, the Attorney General, and every major news outlet in Seattle."
The guards paused, exchanging a worried glance.
"You're lying," the lead guard hissed, taking another step forward.
"Try me," I challenged, holding up my phone. The screen displayed a countdown timer: 24:12... 24:11... "If you kill me, the timer stops. Marcus Blackwell’s empire collapses in twenty-four minutes. Take me to Megan. Now."
Ten minutes later, I was shoved into the back of a black SUV.
We drove through the industrial docks of West Seattle, stopping outside a massive, rusted warehouse bordering the Puget Sound. The air smelled of salt, rust, and rain.
Inside, under the harsh glow of a single halogen light, Megan Cole was tied to a heavy wooden chair. Her face was bruised, her lip split, but the moment her eyes met mine through the gloom, the years of separation dissolved.
"Emily..." she gasped, her voice cracked. "No... you shouldn't have come."
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"Well," Marcus Blackwell said, stepping out from the shadows of the shipping containers, a glass of scotch in his hand. "The reunion is complete. Now, Ms. Warren, give me the drive, disable the timer, and we can discuss the terms of your... quiet retirement."
"I have a better idea, Marcus," I said, tossing the USB drive onto the table between us. "How about we discuss your federal indictment?"
