Chapter 3 - The Wolves Inside the Tower
Darkness in a skyscraper feels heavier than darkness anywhere else. Without the hum of the air conditioning and the glow of computer screens, the executive suite felt like a luxurious tomb.
"Marcus, get the emergency lights on!" Tom shouted, reaching out in the dark until his hand found Khloe’s small, trembling shoulder. He pulled her tight against his side.
"I'm trying, Tom, the biometric pads are dead," Marcus’s voice echoed from across the room, tight with panic. "The entire grid is down. This isn't a blackout. This is a targeted cyber-attack."
A soft, red glow suddenly illuminated the room. It wasn't the emergency system. It was the screen of Tom's backup satellite phone, which bypassed the building's internal servers. The screen flashed with an incoming video call from an blocked number.
Tom swiped the screen.
The face that appeared on the small display was sharp, aristocratic, and framed by perfectly coiffed silver hair. It was Victor Sterling, the billionaire CEO of Sterling Enterprises—Tom's greatest rival, and the man he was currently trying to bankrupt.
"Good morning, Tom," Victor said, his tone smooth, almost bored. "I see you've reunited with our mutual old friend, Sarah. I must admit, I didn't expect her to survive the experimental neurotoxin my team administered to her this morning. She has a remarkably resilient constitution."
Tom’s blood ran cold. "Victor. You did this to her? You kept her alive for seven years?"
"Kept her alive? No, Tom. She escaped me seven years ago," Victor chuckled, a dry, chilling sound. "She stole something incredibly valuable from my private research division—a complete architectural blueprint of the financial algorithms that govern the global banking sector. She's been hiding in plain sight, working as a ghost in your tower, waiting for the right moment to hand it over to you. But unfortunately for her, and for you, she chose today to collapse."
"What do you want, Victor?" Tom demanded, his grip tightening around Khloe.
"I want the drive she hid in your daughter's water bottle," Victor said, his eyes narrowing through the screen. "And I want your signature on the merger agreement, handing Peterson Global over to Sterling Enterprises. If you look out your office window, you'll see my private security force has already cordoned off the building. You have exactly twenty minutes to bring the drive down to the lobby. If you don't... the air filtration system in your private medical wing will be flooded with the same toxin currently killing Sarah. And I don't think your precious little girl would survive a single breath of it."
The call went dead.
Tom stood froze in the red glow of his phone. He looked down at the silver flash drive in his hand, then at Marcus, who was staring at him with a strange, unreadable expression.
May you like
"Tom," Marcus said quietly, stepping out of the shadows. In his hand, he wasn't holding a flashlight. He was holding a compact, suppressed pistol, aimed directly at Tom's chest. "Give me the drive. Don't make this harder than it needs to be."
HOOK: Tom stared at his most trusted friend in absolute disbelief. "Marcus... you're working for Sterling?" Marcus smiled sadly. "I always have been, Tom. Who do you think helped frame Sarah seven years ago? Now, hand over the girl's bottle, or I'll take it from your corpse."
