Chapter 6 - THE SHADOW IN THE LATERALSStanding in the doorway of the locker room was not Mason Ryder.
It was Dr. Pauline Marsh.
The amiable, professional warmth that the head neurologist always projected was entirely gone. In its place was a cold, calculating expression that made Sienna’s blood run cold.
"You really don't know when to stop digging, do you, Sienna?" Dr. Marsh said softly, stepping into the room and blocking the only exit.
Sienna clutched the brass compass in her hand, keeping her voice steady through sheer corporate willpower. "What is this, Pauline? What does Mason have to do with you?"
"Mason is a liability," Dr. Marsh replied, her voice disturbingly calm as she slid a small, nondescript electronic device from her pocket—a signal jammer that instantly dropped all cellular bars on Sienna’s phone to zero. "He was a combat medic in a black-ops medical trial back in 2013—a trial funded by private pharmaceutical grants channeled through shell companies. Companies like Ashford Capital."
Sienna’s eyes widened. "What are you talking about? Ashford Capital is a logistics software firm."
"Not originally," Marsh smiled thinly. "Before your husband passed away and left you the empire, your father’s primary holdings were in biotech venture capital. Experimental spinal regeneration therapies. Trial phase zero. The same trial that paralyzed half a platoon of soldiers in the Balkans—and the same trial that your company buried under a mountain of non-disclosure agreements."
The room seemed to spin. The pieces of the puzzle slammed together with sickening violence.
The crash that broke Ava’s spine three years ago hadn't been a random highway accident.
It had been a targeted warning.
"You..." Sienna whispered, horror paralyzing her limbs. "You were behind the crash."
"We just wanted the files back, Sienna," Marsh said, stepping closer, her hand dipping into her coat pocket where the metallic glint of a suppressed pistol caught the dim fluorescent light. "Just like we want the data Mason recovered from the central archive last week. Where is he?"
Before Dr. Marsh could raise the weapon, the ceiling ventilation grate directly above them exploded inward with a deafening crash of twisted metal.
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A heavy shadow dropped from the dark ductwork, landing squarely on top of the doctor with brutal, crushing momentum.
Mason Ryder rolled across the concrete floor, pinning Dr. Marsh instantly and wrenching the pistol from her grip with a single, practiced motion before she could even scream.
