CHAPTER 7 — "The Queen Finally Took Off Her Mask… And Emily Faced the Woman Who Destroyed Her Life"
The control room was only fifty yards away.
But it felt like a battlefield.
Emergency lights flashed red across the concrete corridors.
Smoke curled along the ceiling.
Some guards were helping terrified inmates.
Others had mysteriously vanished.
Emily knew exactly what that meant.
The Queen was cleaning house.
"Stay behind me," Emily told Brenda.
Brenda scoffed.
"I've survived fifteen years in this prison."
Emily looked her straight in the eyes.
"Not against her."
Those words were enough.
They hurried through the maintenance tunnel until they reached the reinforced steel door leading to the surveillance center.
It was already open.
Inside...
Three technicians lay unconscious.
Every security monitor had been hacked.
Hundreds of camera feeds flashed across the giant wall of screens.
Then, one by one...
They all switched to the same image.
A woman slowly removed her correctional officer's cap.
Long black hair fell over her shoulders.
Calm gray eyes.
An immaculate uniform.
And a faint scar across her cheek.
Emily froze.
"No..."
Brenda looked from Emily to the screen.
"You know her?"
Emily whispered the name she had spent five years trying to bury.
"Victoria Kane."
The room went silent.
Victoria smiled into the camera.
"Hello, Emily."
"I've waited a long time for this reunion."
Five years earlier...
Victoria had been one of the most decorated federal intelligence officers in the country.
She and Emily had completed dangerous missions together.
They had trusted each other with their lives.
Until one operation ended in disaster.
An evidence warehouse exploded.
Emily's husband, Daniel, died inside.
Victoria disappeared that same night.
Official records claimed she had also been killed.
Everything...
Had been a lie.
Victoria leaned closer to the camera.
"You've been searching for the people who murdered your husband."
"You never thought to search for your best friend."
Emily's hands trembled for the first time.
Brenda had never seen fear on Emily's face.
Only now did she understand.
This wasn't just another criminal.
This was betrayal.
Victoria continued calmly.
"Daniel discovered my network."
"He refused my offer."
"So I gave him one final lesson."
Emily's voice cracked.
"You murdered him."
Victoria smiled.
"No."
"I simply locked the door."
The words hit harder than any bullet.
Daniel hadn't died in an accident.
He had burned alive...
Knowing someone had chosen not to save him.
Emily closed her eyes.
Every painful memory came flooding back.
But when she opened them again...
The grief was gone.
Only determination remained.
"You'll answer for this."
Victoria laughed softly.
"You still think this is about revenge?"
She pressed a button.
Across the prison...
Every electronically locked cell door suddenly swung open.
Thousands of alarms erupted.
Inmates flooded into the corridors.
The prison exploded into total chaos.
Victoria's final words echoed through every speaker.
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"Catch me if you can, Captain."
Then the monitors went black.
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