Chapter 23: The Flash Drive and the Fire
Evelyn and Dr. Vance tumbled onto the dusty floor of the warehouse, the metallic screech of the closing roof hatch echoing in the vast, darkened space. The air was thick with the scent of old paper and wood.
"We have to get out of here," Evelyn whispered, pulling Vance to his feet. She checked the comms. "Liam? Report!"
Only static answered. The brief struggle on the stairs must have damaged his equipment, or he was deliberately maintaining radio silence. Evelyn bit back a wave of panic. She had to focus on the mission: securing the evidence and her witness.
"The drive," she insisted. "Do you have the drive, Dr. Vance?"
Vance fumbled inside his jacket and pulled out a small, metallic object, no bigger than her thumb. "The entire Cerebrum Labs IP. Not just the final patent, but the raw data, the clinical trials, the internal memos showing Aethel ordered the termination."
Evelyn carefully took the drive. This was it—the physical proof that would escalate the fight from a civil matter of financial fraud to a criminal case of negligence and suppression.
"Where is the nearest exit?" Evelyn asked, scanning the cavernous room.
Vance pointed toward a distant red exit sign, visible down a long aisle stacked high with crates. "That leads to the street. It's an emergency exit, probably alarmed, but it's the fastest way out."
They moved quickly through the aisles, sticking close to the shadows. But as they neared the exit, the quiet of the warehouse was shattered by a loud, metallic clang from the roof above.
"They're coming through the hatch," Vance cried, his voice trembling.
"Faster!" Evelyn shoved him toward the door. She reached the fire alarm lever beside the exit, thinking fast. If the alarm sounded, it would draw legitimate police and port security, forcing Thorne's agents to retreat or risk official detection.
Just as Evelyn's fingers brushed the lever, the door burst open. Not from their side, but from the street outside.
It was Marcus.
He stood silhouetted in the doorway, not looking like a forensic accountant, but like a man on a desperate extraction. He was holding a large, military-style backpack, his eyes wide as he assessed the scene.
"Evelyn! Thank God! Get in the bag!"
"What?"
"The bag! Now!" Marcus yanked open the main compartment of the backpack. It was a specialist, padded pack with an internal metal lining. "Thorne's not sending security, Evelyn! He's sending fire!"
As Marcus spoke, a thick, acrid black smoke began pouring from the roof hatch and the small, ventilation gaps high in the walls. Thorne's agents hadn't come down; they had used their access to the warehouse roof to deploy a sophisticated incendiary device—a quick-burn smoke bomb designed to destroy the evidence, not just retrieve the witness.
"He's destroying the scene! He wants the physical evidence wiped out!" Evelyn realized, the sickening smell of burning electronics filling the air.
"It's an EMP-proof backpack, designed for transporting sensitive data!" Marcus yelled. "Put the flash drive in! It's the only way to protect it from the heat and the smoke!"
Evelyn shoved the small flash drive deep into a specialized internal pocket of the backpack. Marcus zipped the bag shut and immediately threw it over his own shoulder.
"Go! Out the door! My car is across the street!" Marcus commanded, shoving Vance out onto the street.
Evelyn followed, turning back for a split second to look up at the roof. The black smoke was now tinged with a sickly yellow glow, and the sound of the emergency sprinkler system sputtering to life was drowned out by the escalating roar of fire.
As they reached Marcus's car, a sudden noise erupted from the dock behind them—a frantic sound of running, punctuated by a painful cough.
It was Liam.
He stumbled into the light, his shirt torn, his face grimy, but otherwise intact. He looked straight at Evelyn, his eyes conveying a raw, unmasked relief that momentarily broke his protective façade.
"Get in the car! Go!" Liam yelled, collapsing into the back seat as they sped away, putting distance between themselves and the rapidly engulfing warehouse.
The extraction was complete, the evidence secured. Julian Thorne had countered their move with a brutal, non-judicial action that crossed a dangerous line. He had moved from buying silence to outright destruction.
As they drove away, Evelyn looked back at the dock. The entire section of the warehouse was now a raging inferno, the flames licking high against the black sky.
"He tried to burn the truth," Evelyn whispered, clutching the seat. "He tried to destroy it completely."
Marcus kept his eyes on the road. "He failed. But Evelyn, he's escalated. You're no longer fighting a lawyer. You're fighting a predator."