Chapter 15 - The Judas Kiss
The cell was small,
clean,
and incredibly quiet.
It wasn't a standard jail cell;
it was a high-security holding unit in the basement of the Justice Department.
They had taken my robe.
They had taken my shoes.
They had even taken my wedding ring.
I sat on the edge of the cot,
staring at the white-tiled wall.
I had spent my life sending people to places like this,
always believing that the process was fair,
that the system worked.
But now I saw it from the other side.
The system was a machine,
and I was the grit that it was currently grinding into powder.
The door opened with a soft hiss.
I expected a guard with a meal tray,
or perhaps another lawyer with a stack of papers to sign.
Instead,
it was Thorne.
He looked different.
He was wearing a suit,
not his tactical gear.
His hair was combed back,
and he looked like he had actually slept.
"Victoria,"
he said,
his voice soft,
almost sympathetic.
"Marcus,"
I said,
standing up.
"How did you get in here?
I thought you were under investigation too."
He walked into the cell and sat on the small plastic chair.
"The investigation into me was dropped,
Victoria.
I made a statement.
I told them everything."
A cold feeling started in the pit of my stomach.
"What do you mean,
everything?"
"I told them that you were the one who moved up the timeline,"
he said,
his eyes not meeting mine.
"I told them that you were the one who insisted on going to the lodge.
I told them that you had been in contact with illegal hackers."
I felt the breath leave my body.
"Marcus...
why?
You were there.
You saw what happened."
"I saw what you wanted me to see,"
he said,
finally looking at me.
"But I also saw the bigger picture.
Vanguard...
they’re not the enemy,
Victoria.
They’re the stability.
They’re the reason the markets didn't crash when Ward was arrested.
They’re the reason the city is still standing."
I stepped back,
my back hitting the cold tile.
"You’re one of them."
"I’m a realist,"
he said,
standing up.
"Dominic was a loose cannon.
He was greedy and sloppy.
He was a mistake.
Vanguard hired me to keep an eye on him,
and when he became a liability,
they used you to take him out.
You did exactly what they wanted you to do,
Victoria.
You were the perfect weapon.
A righteous judge with a mother’s heart.
You didn't even see the strings."
The betrayal was so absolute it felt surreal.
The man who had stood beside me,
who had saved my life in the apartment,
who had comforted my daughter...
he was the architect of my ruin.
"What about Clara?"
I whispered,
the name a plea.
"What about the baby?"
"Clara is being taken care of,"
Thorne said,
his voice devoid of emotion.
"She’s been moved to a private facility.
The baby will be born into a very comfortable life.
But she won't be seeing you again.
The state has decided that you’re an unfit influence."
I lunged at him,
my fingers clawing for his eyes,
but he caught my wrists with ease.
He was stronger than he looked,
his grip like iron.
"Don't make this harder than it has to be,"
he said,
pushing me back onto the cot.
"There’s a deal on the table.
Sign a full confession.
Admit to the conspiracy,
admit to the corruption,
and you’ll be moved to a minimum-security facility.
You’ll live out your days in comfort.
Reject it,
and you’ll disappear into a black site where the law doesn't exist."
I looked at him,
at the man I had trusted with my family’s lives.
I saw the darkness behind his eyes,
the cold,
calculating vacuum of a soul that had been sold long ago.
"I’ll never sign,"
I said,
my voice steady,
spitting the words at him.
"I’m a Judge of the United States.
You can kill me,
but you can't make me lie."
Thorne sighed,
straightening his tie.
"I was afraid you’d say that.
You always were a bit too fond of your own legend."
He walked to the door and paused,
his hand on the handle.
"Goodbye,
Victoria.
It was an honor working with you.
Truly."
The door hissed shut,
leaving me in the silence once again.
But this time,
the silence was different.
It wasn't the silence of a prison.
It was the silence of a grave.
I sat in the dark,
listening to the sound of my own breathing.
I had lost everything.
My career.
My daughter.
My son.
My freedom.
But as I closed my eyes,
I remembered one thing Thorne had forgotten.
He had taken the flash drive.
He had taken the journals.
But he hadn't taken the cloud server.
The information was still out there,
ticking like a time bomb in the heart of the internet.
And I wasn't the only one who had the key.
I thought of the man in the hooded sweatshirt,
the one from the photos.
Echo.
I had given him the witness protection database.
I had given him the most powerful weapon in the world.
And now,
May you like
it was time for him to use it.
The Judge was dead.
