Chapter 8 - Bloodlines and Betrayals
I stared at my mother,
unmoving and cold as granite.
"Evelyn,"
I said,
refusing to call her mother after what she had done in court,
"you testified under oath that I was a fraud.
You tried to send me to federal prison to protect Ryan's theft.
Why are you here?"
Evelyn collapsed onto her knees near the doorway,
sobbing uncontrollably as rain dripped from her hair onto the plush carpet.
"I didn't know,
Claire!"
she cried out,
her voice trembling with pure hysteria.
"I swear to God I didn't know the full truth!
Ryan told me you were trying to freeze him out of Arthur's estate!
He told me you hated us because you left for the military!"
Ethan stood beside me,
his hand remaining steady near his holster,
unmoved by her dramatic display.
"Get up,
Mrs. Cross,"
Ethan said firmly.
"Explain what you mean about Ryan being killed."
Evelyn wiped her face with shaking hands,
struggling to pull herself up onto a chair.
"An hour ago,"
Evelyn stammered,
her teeth chattering from fear,
"two men came to my house.
They didn't break in...
they had keys,
Claire!
They told me that Ryan owes fifty million dollars to a group called the Aegis Network."
My eyes narrowed as I listened intently to her every word.
"They said Ryan promised to hand over the prototype encryption codes for Project Meridian Core,"
Evelyn continued,
her voice barely above a whisper.
"The satellite defense shield your father designed before he died.
Ryan was supposed to deliver those files tonight in exchange for having his offshore debts erased."
"And since Ryan is in federal custody,"
I concluded,
feeling the trap closing in,
"they realize they can't get the files from him."
"They left a message for you,"
Evelyn sobbed,
reaching into her handbag with trembling fingers.
She pulled out a sealed black envelope stamped with a silver wax seal—the symbol of Aegis.
"They said if you don't upload the Meridian Core source codes to their private server by midnight...
they will release a chemical toxin into the ventilation system of Facility Seven."
I grabbed the envelope from her hand,
tearing it open instantly.
Inside was a small digital drive and a handwritten note containing a single line:
Your brother failed us, Captain. Do not make the same mistake, or Facility Seven becomes a mass grave.
Facility Seven was Cross Meridian's primary research and development complex,
where forty top-tier scientists and engineers were currently working night shifts on military defense tech.
I looked at the clock on my wall.
11:25 p.m.
Thirty-five minutes left.
"Ethan,"
I ordered,
my combat instincts taking total command,
"contact Tactical Operations at Fort Liberty.
Tell them we have an active bio-hazard threat at Facility Seven."
"Already on it,
Claire,"
Ethan replied,
pulling out his encrypted satellite phone.
I looked down at my weeping mother,
who was staring at me with a mix of terror and shame.
"You enabled Ryan's greed until it turned into treason,"
I told her,
my voice echoing like steel.
"Stay in this office,
Evelyn.
May you like
If we survive tonight,
you will answer to federal investigators."
