The Boy Who Gave the Robber One Last Warning

Inside the darkened corridors of the Thorne mansion, the backup generators kicked in with a low, mechanical hum, bathing the hallways in eerie red emergency lighting.

Caleb moved silently along the second-floor gallery, dodging laser sensors and stepping past unconscious guards incapacitated by Marcus's electronic disruptions.

He reached the heavy reinforced double doors of Thorne's master study.

Using the bypass code Eli Vance had provided, Caleb keyed the electronic lockpad.

*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. ACCESS GRANTED.*

The heavy steel bolt retracted, and Caleb slipped inside.

The study was enormous, lined with floor-to-ceiling mahogany bookshelves, classical art, and a massive central glass desk housing a glowing terminal connected to the syndicate's subterranean server bank.

Caleb plugged his father's encrypted drive into the primary terminal.

*DOWNLOADING: DOCK OPERATIONS, BRIBE LEDGER 2006-2026, FREIGHT MANIFESTS, HOMICIDE CONTRACTS.*

The progress bar began climbing: *12%... 24%... 38%...*

Suddenly, the cold click of a gun hammer cocking echoed from the shadows behind the desk.

"You're just as arrogant as your old man was," a deep, gravelly voice sneered.

From behind the velvet curtains stepped Deputy Chief Robert Sterling—the second-in-command of the Westbridge Police Department, holding a suppressed .45 caliber pistol aimed directly at Caleb's chest.

"Deputy Chief," Caleb said without turning around, watching the download meter hit 52%. "I wondered when Thorne's most loyal dog would show up."

"You think you're clever, kid?" Sterling mocked, stepping closer. "Daniel thought he was untouchable too. But do you want to know the truth about that rainy night eighteen years ago? Walter Vance didn't order the hit. I did. I was the one who radioed Thorne and told him Daniel had found the weapon crates."

Caleb's hands tightened into iron fists, but he kept his voice deadly quiet. "You sold out your brother in blue for thirty pieces of silver."

"I sold him out for two million dollars and a corner office," Sterling smiled cruelly. "And now I get to finish what I started eighteen years ago by putting a bullet through his son."

"You forgot one thing, Sterling," Caleb whispered.

"What's that?"

"My father taught me how to read a room before I ever picked up a weapon."

Caleb slammed his elbow backward into the emergency fire suppression valve behind the desk.

A blast of high-pressure halon gas erupted directly into Sterling's face, blinding and choking the corrupt officer. Sterling fired blindly, the bullet shattering the glass desk, but Caleb was already moving.

Ducking beneath the gunfire, Caleb delivered a devastating sweep-kick, knocking Sterling to the marble floor before disarming him with a bone-snapping strike to the wrist.

Caleb held Sterling pinned under his boot, pressing Daniel's gun against the Deputy Chief's temple.

The download chime chimed softly: *DOWNLOAD 100% COMPLETE.*