Chapter 15 - The Final Betrayal
Vice Admiral Marcus stood beside the glowing server rack.
His hands held a wireless flash drive plugged into console.
The screen displayed my personal military profile files downloading.
My birth certificate, service records, and security clearances were open.
He was erasing my identity while uploading false treason files.
He was planting the foreign wire transfer receipts in my name.
"Marcus..." I whispered, my voice trembling with deep shock.
"You were the one who helped my father?"
Vice Admiral Marcus offered a cold, sad, chilling smile.
He did not lower his hands or pull a weapon.
"Your father was a foolish businessman, Claire," Marcus said.
"He thought he was running the real estate show."
"In reality, I was using his company to move money."
"I created your father's entire corporate empire thirty years ago."
My breath hitched in my throat as realization struck hard.
"You... you killed my mother Elizabeth?" I asked.
Marcus took a slow, deliberate step toward the console panel.
"Elizabeth discovered my offshore accounts thirty years ago, Claire."
"She was going to expose us to the Department Defense."
"Your father gave her the poison, but I supplied compound."
"We built this network together from the very beginning."
He reached his hand toward a red emergency button.
"And now, Admiral Claire, your career ends tonight."
"By tomorrow morning, you will be branded a traitor."
"And I will walk away with two hundred million dollars."
He slammed his hand down onto the red emergency button.
A loud metallic shutter slammed down, sealing the vault doors.
Thick bulletproof steel doors locked us inside server room.
Halon fire suppression gas began hissing from ceiling vents.
The oxygen levels in the room began dropping rapidly now.
Marcus pulled a small oxygen mask over his own mouth.
He looked at me through the foggy glass visor smiling.
"Goodnight, Admiral Bennett," Marcus whispered through his mask.
I raised my sidearm, aiming straight at his chest.
Before I could pull trigger, the server screen flashed red.
A high-priority video transmission opened on master display console.
The screen showed a live camera feed from an unknown location.
A location showing my private living room inside my home.
Sitting on my sofa holding a small red detonator device,
Was my mother Margaret, wearing a clean white dress.
She looked directly into the camera lens, smiling wickedly.
"Hello, Claire," Margaret's voice echoed through server speakers.
"Your father and Marcus were just my loyal puppets."
May you like
"I run the Ghost Network."
"And your house explodes in ten seconds."
