Chapter 6 - The Midnight Download
The digital clock completely glared a highly aggressive, neon red 3:15 AM into the suffocating darkness of the quiet bedroom.
Ben was officially snoring loudly beside me, completely lost in a deep, arrogant sleep entirely devoid of any guilty conscience.
I slowly, entirely silently, peeled the heavy down comforter completely off my body, taking extreme care not to shift the mattress springs.
I slipped out of the bed like a ghost, my bare feet completely completely silent against the thick, expensive Persian rug.
I moved with agonizing, terrifying slowness toward the antique desk in the corner, clutching the tiny silver USB drive tightly in my sweaty palm.
The highly advanced laptop was completely powered down, resting heavily like a sleeping digital monster on the polished wood.
I completely knew that bypassing the biometric scanner required a direct, physical application of Ben’s actual fingerprint.
I crept completely back to the edge of the bed, staring intently down at my husband’s heavy, limp right hand dangling entirely off the mattress.
My heart hammered violently against my ribs, echoing so loudly in my ears that I completely feared it would instantly wake him up.
I carefully placed a tiny piece of clear, highly sticky packing tape perfectly over his right index finger, pressing down gently to capture the print.
I peeled the tape off smoothly, holding my breath completely as he briefly shifted his weight and groaned loudly in his sleep.
He completely settled back down into the pillows, remaining entirely oblivious to the massive corporate espionage occurring inches from his face.
I walked rapidly back to the desk, opened the laptop screen, and carefully pressed the taped fingerprint directly onto the glowing biometric scanner.
The machine chirped softly, a highly terrifying sound in the silent room, and the bright screen instantly unlocked completely.
I aggressively shoved Evelyn’s silver USB drive entirely into the side port, praying frantically that the highly advanced software would work as promised.
A black command window instantly popped up entirely on the screen, rapidly scrolling through thousands of lines of highly complex green code.
The downloading progress bar completely began crawling aggressively slowly across the screen: 10%... 25%... 45%.
Suddenly, a completely loud, highly distinct creak echoed aggressively from the hardwood floorboards out in the main hallway.
Someone was completely walking slowly toward the closed bedroom door.
The progress bar was completely stuck entirely at 88%, the cooling fan of the laptop beginning to whir loudly in the quiet room.
I frantically completely stared at the heavy brass doorknob, watching in absolute terror as it slowly began to turn counterclockwise.
I completely threw my body heavily onto the floor, hiding entirely beneath the antique desk just as the heavy door swung completely open.
It was Carol, standing entirely in the doorway wearing a long silk robe, completely holding a glowing smartphone in her hand as a flashlight.
She completely scanned the dark room, her highly suspicious eyes entirely lingering on the glowing laptop screen for a terrifying second.
The progress bar completely hit 100%, and the screen instantly went completely black, perfectly mimicking a standard sleep mode.
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Carol aggressively huffed a highly annoyed sigh, entirely closed the bedroom door with a sharp click, and walked completely back down the hallway.
I completely pulled the tiny silver drive from the port, completely knowing that I was now holding the absolute destruction of their entire family in my trembling hand.
