Chapter 5 - The Midnight Knock
It took exactly three days for the syndicate to make direct contact.
I was working late, pouring over Julian’s redacted corporate ledgers. The rest of the towering Apex building was completely dark and empty. Outside, a heavy thunderstorm lashed rain against the glass of the penthouse suite.
Ping.
The private executive elevator chimed softly. I froze. That specific elevator required a high-level biometric retinal scan to access. Only my father, Julian, and I had authorization.
The silver doors slid open. Three men stepped out. They weren't wearing masks, which told me everything I needed to know: they didn't intend to leave any living witnesses behind. The man in the center was massive, broad-shouldered, with a jagged white scar running from his ear down to his throat. He wore a tailored suit that barely concealed the bulk of a shoulder holster.
"Ms. Vance," the man said. His accent was thick, Russian, and perfectly calm. "My name is Nikolai. Your brother left a rather large, unpaid tab open with my employers. We have come to collect what is ours."
I slowly closed the ledger on my desk, my heart rate dropping into the familiar, icy rhythm of combat. The adrenaline of the Zargan Valley flooded my veins. They thought they were cornering a pampered, helpless corporate heiress.
"My brother is currently a federal inmate," I said evenly, resting my hands on the desk. "Take your grievances up with the Bureau of Prisons."
Nikolai smiled a cruel, humorless smile, pulling a suppressed pistol from his jacket. "We prefer liquid assets. Or the beta blueprints to the new Apex drone systems. You will open the company vault for us. Right now."
I stood up, keeping my hands perfectly visible. "The vault has a strict two-man rule. I physically can't open it alone."
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"Then we will find out exactly how much pain you can endure before you figure out a bypass," Nikolai stepped forward, raising the weapon toward my face.
He never even saw my hand move.
