Chapter 6 - Decrypting Classified Files From The Secure Vault Room
Marcus kept his tactical light trained on the housekeeper's trembling shoulders as she stood beside the open black case.
"Who has your family, Mrs. Gable? Tell me right now and I will ensure they are protected by federal marshals," Marcus offered.
She slowly turned around, tears streaming down her aging cheeks as she looked into the blinding beam of the flashlight.
"You can't protect anyone from him, Mr. Sterling... Marcus Vance is already inside the mansion grounds," she sobbed quietly.
Marcus felt his blood run cold at the mention of his sworn enemy's name returning from the dead to claim his home.
"Vance was sentenced to thirty years in federal prison three years ago; he cannot just walk out of a supermax facility," Marcus argued.
"Money talks louder than prison walls, Mr. Sterling, and he's been planning this takeover since the day you signed the corporate merger," she replied.
Down in the wine cellar, her cell phone buzzed violently inside her coat pocket with an incoming encrypted video call.
Marcus snatched the phone before she could reach for it, pressing accept on the glowing screen with his left hand.
The face of Marcus Vance appeared on the small display, smiling wickedly from inside the very control room where Lily was locked.
"Hello, Marcus... did you really think your little security firewall could keep me out of my own home?" Vance mocked smoothly.
Marcus pointed his sidearm at the phone screen, his jaw clenching so hard his teeth ached in the damp cellar air.
"Let my daughter go, Vance, or I swear I will hunt you down before you even leave this property," Marcus threatened fiercely.
Vance laughed heartily, panning the camera to show Lily sitting bravely behind the steel equipment rack in the control room.
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"Your daughter is safe for now, Marcus... but she's holding the key to your entire fortune in her little teddy bear," Vance revealed.
***
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