Chapter 14 - THE CIPHER OF THE DEAD
Kane descended the concrete stairwell, his heavy tactical boots hitting the bottom step with a solid, deliberate thud. His pistol remained pointed at the captive's chest as he stepped around the wooden crate to secure the submachine gun.
"He's wearing a contractor patch from Apex Security Services," Kane noted, using his flashlight beam to inspect the black velcro patch on the man's left sleeve. "Frankfurt division. They handle off-the-books logistics for private defense contractors in Geneva."
The prisoner let out a short, dry chuckle. "Apex is just a shell, old man. You know how this game works. Every time a black-budget team gets decommissioned by Congress, three private firms pop up to inherit the assets. Division Four didn't die three years ago. It just changed handshakes."
Maya took a step closer, her pistol barrel remaining three inches from his eye line. "Where is the master drive?"
"It’s already uploading," the man replied, flicking his eyes toward the laptop screen where a red progress bar was reaching eighty-nine percent. "In two minutes, every operational profile, every home address, every safehouse coordinate, and every alias tied to Division Four will be distributed to twelve private auction servers in London, Dubai, and Singapore. You can shoot me right now, Maya. It won't stop the packet."
Maya didn't flinch. She glanced at the screen, taking in the complex network addresses, encryption protocols, and routing ciphers displaying in real-time.
"Kane," she said flatly. "Pull the fiber link from the junction wall."
Kane moved instantly, reaching out with his gloved hand to rip the thick black fiber-optic cable out of the wall terminal. Sparks showered over the damp concrete floor as the junction box short-circuited with a loud, metallic pop.
The laptop screen flickered violently, the red progress bar freezing at ninety-one percent.
ERROR: NETWORK CONNECTION TERMINATED. UPLINK FAILED.
The prisoner’s cold smile vanished, replaced by a sudden, sharp twitch along his jaw. "You idiot... that drive was set on a secondary fail-safe. If the link breaks before completion, the local storage array executes a thermite purge!"
"I know," Maya replied calmly.
Before the prisoner could jump back from the crate, Maya’s left hand shot out like a striking serpent. Her fingers clamped around his wrist, twisting it inward while her right palm struck his jawline with devastating, surgical force.
The man’s head snapped back, his collarbone fracturing with a loud crunch as she slammed him face-first onto the concrete floor, pinning his throat beneath her knee before he could reach the emergency detonator hidden inside his tactical belt.
Kane reached over, grabbed the ruggedized laptop, and pulled the encrypted flash drive out of the side port before the thermite charge could ignite.
"We have ninety-one percent of the master roster secured," Kane said, holding the small steel flash drive up to the dim blue light. "Including the IP address of the primary buyer."
Maya looked down at the unconscious operative beneath her knee, her expression completely unreadable.
"Where does the buyer's IP terminate, Kane?" she asked softly.
May you like
Kane checked his tactical tablet, his rugged face growing dark under the faint LED glow.
"It’s not in London or Dubai, Maya," Kane said, his voice dropping into a heavy, ominous register. "The buyer's terminal is located right here in North Carolina. Inside the administrative wing of Fort Bragg."
