Chapter 6: The Ghost in the Machine
Chapter 6: The Ghost in the Machine
Before Vance could answer, the penthouse plunged into darkness. The ambient hum of the air conditioning died. Outside, the city lights remained on, but the Blake Tower was entirely blacked out.
Suddenly, every screen in the room—the television, Vance’s tablet, Regina’s phone—flared to life, displaying a single, continuous loop of a spinning red thread.
"Vance!" Regina barked, dropping her glass. It shattered against the hardwood floor.
"They’re inside," Vance muttered, his fingers flying across a backup encrypted laptop he pulled from his briefcase. "They’ve bypassed the air-gap. They’re accessing the offshore accounts. The Cayman ledgers, Regina. They have the sweatshop manifests."
Regina felt a cold spike of genuine fear. Those ledgers didn't just show unethical practices; they detailed millions in bribes to foreign officials and cartel-linked shipping companies. It was enough to put her in federal prison for the rest of her life.
May you like
"Shut it down," she ordered. "Destroy the servers."
"I can't," Vance said, looking up, his face pale in the glow of the red thread. "We’re locked out."
