Chapter 4 - the lock on the server room
Inside the pitch-black vault, the sudden silence was deafening.
Jonathan clicked his tactical flashlight back on, illuminating the heavy iron door. He stepped forward and grabbed the emergency internal handle, pulling with all his broad strength, but the electronic lock remained dead.
"Mr. Whitmore!" Rosa gasped, panic rising in her voice. "Are we trapped?"
"Stay calm, Rosa," Jonathan said smoothly, his disciplined composure instantly taking over. He reached into his suit jacket, pulled out a heavy steel multi-tool, and began dismantling the electrical panel beside the door frame. "Harrison cut the primary relay. There's a manual override wire behind the panel."
Meanwhile, on the second floor of the main mansion, Harrison moved quickly through the dimly lit hallway. He carried a small leather bag containing a high-speed encrypted flash drive, heading straight toward the estate's central server room.
Harrison knew he had less than twenty minutes before Jonathan breached the basement door. If he could insert the drive into the main terminal, he could trigger a full hard-drive wipe, erasing all digital evidence of the Sterling accounts forever.
Harrison slid his master keycard through the server room scanner. The glass door slid open, and he stepped inside, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him.
Standing near the hallway linen closet, nine-year-old Camila watched him through the shadows. She had slipped out of her bedroom to look for her mother when she saw the estate manager sneaking through the wing with a nervous stride.
Camila walked silently across the carpet, stopping beside the server room door. She peeked inside and saw Harrison standing before the glowing blue server rack, holding a small electronic device.
Camila remembered her mother’s tears and the late bills on her phone.
Without making a sound, Camila pulled the heavy glass door shut, pressed her small hand against the external locking bar, and flipped the heavy brass emergency deadbolt from the outside!
CLACK.
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Harrison spun around in pure terror, dropping his flash drive onto the floor. "What?! Who's out there?!"
He rushed to the glass door, hammering his fists against the reinforced pane, only to see nine-year-old Camila standing outside, her two braids resting on her shoulders, staring back at him with fierce, unyielding eyes.
