Chapter 13
That evening, deep inside an ultra-secure underground server room in Zurich, Switzerland, a red alarm klaxon flashed silently.
A senior cybersecurity technician stared at his monitor in absolute disbelief as master encryption keys self-destructed.
"Sir! All secondary backdoors into the Sterling family trust have just been permanently locked!" the technician yelled across the room.
In the shadows of the executive suite, a shadowy figure standing by the floor-to-ceiling window took a slow sip of scotch.
"Who authorized the counter-protocol?" a deep, cold voice demanded from the darkness.
"It wasn't the federal prosecutors," the technician stammered, tapping his keyboard frantically.
"The command signature originated directly from an encrypted terminal registered to Clara Vance."
The figure in the shadows turned around slowly, revealing a scarred face lit only by the red glow of the server racks.
A dangerous, predatory smile formed across his lips as he crushed his crystal glass in his bare hand.
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"So the little mother on the hospital curb has finally grown claws," the man whispered into the dark room.
"Prepare the private transport to New York... we are going to pay Mrs. Vance a personal visit."
