Chapter 13 - The Tracing Script
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"Check your phone, Sarah," Arthur taunted, pointing at the tablet on the rack. "The automated press release just went live on the global wire."
Claire immediately pulled out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen. "He's right," she gasped, her voice trembling. "Vanguard's public relations portal just published an emergency SEC filing. The board has officially recognized the transfer of thirty-five percent of Class-A voting shares to the Vance Trust, managed by Arthur Vance."
"Now, Officer," Arthur said calmly, taking a step toward us. "You have no jurisdiction here. This is a private corporate matter, and you are standing on private property."
"I have a warrant for your arrest, Arthur," Thompson countered, stepping forward to slap a pair of steel handcuffs onto Arthur's wrist. "You are named as an accessory to the attempted murder of Sarah Vance, conspiracy to commit fraud, and illegal wiretapping."
Arthur smiled coldly as Thompson forced his arms behind his back. "My lawyers will have those charges thrown out before sunset. You can't prove I ordered Beckett to do anything."
"I don't need to prove what you told Beckett," I said, walking slowly past him toward the master terminal console in the center of the room.
Arthur's smile flickered. "Don't touch that console. The system is locked under an AES-256 military protocol. You can't bypass it."
"You forgot one thing, Uncle Arthur," I said, sitting down in the leather chair before the glowing monitor. "You were the administrator of the old system. But I wrote the core kernel for Vanguard's operating architecture."
I pulled a small USB drive from my jacket pocket—the drive containing my father's original backup key—and slotted it into the primary server port.
"What are you doing?" Arthur demanded, his voice losing its calm composure.
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"I'm not trying to stop the transfer," I replied, typing rapidly into the command prompt. "I'm executing my father's true final protocol. The one he built in case you ever betrayed him."
The monitors in the room suddenly flashed from bright blue to deep blood-red.
