Chapter 15 - The Trap In Kerrville
The heavy mechanical locking mechanism on the hatch engaged above, trapping Elena in total, absolute darkness thirty feet underground.
The ventilation fan in the corner hissed to a sudden stop, cutting off the fresh air supply from the surface.
Elena clicked on her flashlight, sweeping the beam toward the ceiling as footsteps echoed against the iron hatch.
"Did you really think I wouldn't track a biometrics ping from my own land grant, Elena?" a voice spoke over an intercom speaker.
It was Senator Richard Vance, his voice booming through the underground chamber with cold, electronic authority.
"You were always too predictable, my dear," Vance added, his laughter sounding hollow through the steel walls.
"You followed the clues exactly as I designed them twenty years ago when I set up this emergency contingency."
Elena walked beneath the speaker, her voice calm and steady despite the rapidly rising temperature in the vault.
"You built this vault as your insurance policy, Dad," Elena shouted up toward the hatch.
"And now I have uploaded every single page of your black ledgers to six federal news networks in New York and Washington!"
There was a long, terrifying silence on the line as the reality of her statement registered in the mind of the powerful senator.
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"You're lying," Vance spat back, his voice losing its arrogant composure for the first time.
"Check your private satellite feed, Dad," Elena replied coldly. "The truth is live across America."
