Chapter 18 - The Ghost Protocol
The chaotic sirens of the federal detention facility wailed overhead as tactical teams swarmed the hallways, securing the perimeter and locking down every exit. I stood in the corridor outside the visitation room, my breathing shallow, my hands trembling slightly despite my desperate effort to maintain absolute composure.
Ethan was dead. Silas Vance, the federal lead investigator, rushed down the corridor accompanied by four armed agents, his face grim and pale.
'Ms. Cole, are you injured?' Silas asked urgently, shining a small flashlight across my coat for any sign of shrapnel or blood.
'I’m fine, Detective,' I replied, my voice surprisingly steady as I pointed toward the visitation room. 'The shooter... did they catch them?'
'The perimeter is locked down, but the assassin slipped through the loading bay service tunnel during the three-second generator blackout,' Silas muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead. 'It was a professional hit. Bellum Veritas wasn't just trying to silence Ethan; they were ensuring he couldn't name their primary insider at Cole Meridian.'
I clenched my jaw, the final puzzle pieces clicking into place in my mind with chilling clarity. Ethan had been about to reveal the identity of the true mastermind embedded inside my company before a silenced bullet permanently silenced him.
'Which means the traitor is still sitting on our board of directors,' I said quietly.
Silas looked at me, his eyes dark with grave realization. 'And they know you’re hunting them.'
By 8:00 PM, I was back in my private office at Cole Meridian Tower. The rain had stopped, leaving the Manhattan skyline glittering like a field of scattered diamonds beneath a cold, clear night sky. Arthur Vance stood beside my desk, connecting a secure external hardware decoder to my main terminal.
'If Ethan was right, the final insider must have access to the master encryption keys required to authorize the transfer of naval routing data,' Arthur explained, his fingers flying across the keyboard. 'Only three people on our current board possess those keys: Raymond Shaw, Leonard Sterling, and Vice President Thomas Vance.'
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I stared at the three names glowing on the screen. Raymond—my father’s oldest, most trusted friend who had stood by my side through every crisis. Leonard—the brilliant defense attorney who had torn down Ethan’s legal defenses. And Thomas Vance—our senior vice president of global operations.
'One of them is a traitor,' I whispered, feeling a heavy weight settle in my chest. 'Let’s find out which one.'
