Chapter 5 - The Glass Tower TrapBy midnight, the city of Baltimore was shrouded in thick fog.
A heavy, bulletproof SUV pulled up behind the Volkov Financial Tower—a sixty-story glass skyscraper in the heart of downtown. This was the nerve center of the entire regional syndicate, now heavily patrolled by Russian mercenaries hired by Dr. Vance and Julian’s faction.
Inside the SUV, Damian was strapped into a portable medical monitor. I sat in the back seat beside Lila, holding a small digital slate where I translated Lila’s hand signs into real-time updates for Damian.
“The EMP device inside your chest is reacting to the building’s heavy security frequency,” I told Damian, reading Lila’s rapid hand movements. “Lila says she can feel the hum getting faster every time we get closer to the main entrance.”
Damian looked at Lila through the rearview mirror. “That means Vance’s master server is located inside the top-floor penthouse. The signal controlling my heart is being broadcast directly from there.”
“If we enter the building, won't Vance just press the kill command from his server?” I asked nervously.
“Not if we cut the main signal relay first,” Damian replied, checking his weapon. “Viktor is on the roof of the adjacent building. He will cut the power grid for three minutes. In those three minutes, we enter, clear the server room, and permanently disable the frequency.”
He turned around in his seat, looking directly at me. “Elena, I am taking you and Lila inside because I need her to confirm when the frequency is dead. Monitors can be spoofed by hackers. Her touch cannot.”
I hugged Lila tighter. “It’s too dangerous, Damian! What if the power grid fails?”
Damian reached into his coat and pulled out two thick gold medallions stamped with the crest of the Volkov family. He placed them gently into Lila’s hands.
“If anything happens to me tonight, these medallions give you total control over the Volkov emergency funds in Switzerland,” Damian said solemnly. “You will never have to work as a maid again. Your daughter will have the best medical care and education in the world.”
Lila looked down at the gleaming gold, then looked up at Damian’s face. She lifted her hand and touched his cheek, signing: We go together. No one dies.
Damian stared at her, deeply moved. “No one dies,” he repeated softly.
Suddenly, the skyscraper in front of us went completely dark. The city streetlights flickered and died.
“Power is down!” Viktor’s voice crackled through the comms radio. “You have three minutes, Don Volkov! Go!”
“Move!” Damian ordered.
We burst out of the SUV and rushed through the service entrance of the dark skyscraper. The lobby was silent, illuminated only by the faint green glow of emergency exit signs.
We sprinted toward the express service elevator, which had been overridden to run on manual backup power. Damian slammed the button for the 60th floor.
As the elevator accelerated upward, Lila suddenly grabbed her ears and sank to her knees, crying out in silent agony.
“Lila!” I dropped to the floor beside her. “What’s wrong baby?”
She pointed frantically at the elevator ceiling, her face pale, her hands shaking as she signed: The signal... it’s not dead! It’s getting stronger!
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Damian’s eyes widened in horror as he checked his wrist monitor. His heart rate spike was spiking dangerously—150, 170, 190 beats per minute!
“It was a trap,” Damian choked out, leaning heavily against the elevator wall as blood began to trickle from his nose. “Vance didn't use the city grid. His server is running on an independent, military-grade generator!”
