Chapter 6 - The Zurich Signal
The small OLED screen of my encrypted phone pulsed with a cold, pale light inside the descending elevator car, casting sharp shadows across the polished stainless-steel walls.
Elias leaned over slightly, his keen eyes catching the glowing letters before the screen flickered again.
“Zurich routing,” Elias murmured, his voice laced with sudden caution. “That’s not coming from Sterling’s local network. That’s an external tier-one relay. What are the coordinates?”
I didn't answer right away. I stared at the four-word warning glowing below the GPS string: “They have your sister.”
My breath hitched for a fraction of a second—not out of warmth or desperate affection, but from the chilling realization of how deep the trap actually went. Jasmine. My mother had coddled her, Julian had used her, and now Sterling’s faction had snatched her right out of the courthouse holding annex while the state troopers were distracted by the data center raid.
“Maya?” Elias asked, his tone sharpening as he noticed the change in my posture. “What is it? Is it Sterling’s people?”
“They took Jasmine,” I said, my voice dropping into a flat, steady register of absolute operational focus. I held the phone up so Elias could read the message.
Elias cursed under his breath. “That’s a tactical play. They know the federal warrant is moving on Sterling’s assets, so they’re taking a high-value leverage piece to force a trade. If the feds or local police get involved in a hostage recovery scenario, the jurisdiction gets messy real fast.”
“They don't want a legal battle anymore,” I replied, slipping the phone back into my pocket as the elevator pinged and the doors slid open to the subterranean parking garage. “They want the master ledger back. And they’re willing to use my own family as a battering ram to get it.”
The garage was dim, echoing with the distant hum of ventilation fans and the dull drip of water from an overhead pipe. Our black SUV sat waiting in slot 42, its dark tinted windows reflecting the harsh yellow sodium lights.
As we stepped out of the elevator bay, the heavy steel door at the opposite end of the garage creaked open.
May you like
A figure stepped out from the shadows near the concrete pillar—tall, wearing a dark trench coat, holding a heavy-duty encrypted burner phone that was currently chiming with an active incoming call.
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