Chapter 15 - The Digital EclipseThe central screen in the terminal flickered violently, flashing a bright, blinding crimson before going completely black.
The hum of the server banks died instantly, replaced by a heavy, suffocating silence.
Julian’s jaw dropped. He lunged forward, his hands slamming onto the dead console, pressing keys that no longer responded.
“No! No, that’s impossible! I bypassed the firewall!” Julian screamed, his cultured veneer shattering into a mask of pure, unadulterated panic. “I had the biometric signature! I had the child’s DNA!”
“You had a ghost, Julian,” Elias said, stepping close enough that the barrel of his rifle nearly touched Julian’s chin. “My daughters’ DNA profiles were scrubbed from every medical database in the tri-state area the day they were born. What you stole from that clinic was a decoy sample of my own DNA mixed with common influenza.”
Julian staggered backward, his face turning an unhealthy, chalky grey.
“You... you knew?”
“I knew the moment Clara applied for the tutoring position,” Elias said coldly. “People who work for me don't take jobs in the Hudson Valley unless I’ve vetted their ancestors back to the Civil War. She made the mistake of looking at my security cameras twice.”
Julian’s eyes darted toward the side exit, his hand dipping inside his trench coat toward a hidden shoulder holster—
Crack!
Elias didn't hesitate. A single round caught Julian cleanly in the right shoulder, spinning him around and slamming him hard against the steel pillar.
Julian screamed, clutching his bloody shoulder as he slid down the metal until he was sitting in a heap on the filthy concrete floor.
Marcus stepped forward instantly, kicking Julian’s dropped pistol away and slamming steel cuffs onto his wrists with brutal efficiency.
“Take him to the basement holding cells in the Manhattan brownstone,” Elias ordered without looking back. “Let him think about the family name he tried to sell.”
I let out a long, shuddering breath, lowering my Beretta. The weight of the last hour seemed to press down on my shoulders all at once, making my knees feel weak.
May you like
Elias turned, dropping his rifle onto a tactical sling, and closed the distance between us in two long strides. He pulled me into his arms, pressing my head against his chest.
“It’s over, Ava,” he whispered into my hair, his voice rough with emotion. “Nobody touches my family. Ever.”
