Chapter 6 - Betrayal at Midnight
Elias backed up slowly against the steel counter of the cryogenic registry, keeping his hand hidden near the open data-cloning device.
"It's over, Vance," Elias said, trying to keep his voice steady. "The files are already uploading to a secure external server. The federal authorities know everything."
Vance let out a soft, dry laugh. "Federal authorities? My dear boy, who do you think funded the original research for Apex? Half the senators in this state have children born from our elite donor lines. They won't prosecute me. They will protect me."
Vance raised the pistol, aiming it directly between Elias’s eyes.
"And as for your wife," Vance added smoothly, "my operatives arrived at your friend's cabin five minutes ago. Mrs. Sterling is currently being transported to our private surgical suit. By sunrise, the baby will be delivered via emergency C-section, and your wife will be... permanently indisposed."
Elias felt his heart plummet into an abyss of pure terror. "You lying bastard!"
"Shoot him," Vance ordered casually to his guards, turning his back to walk out of the vault.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the sub-level hallway. The glass partition of the server room shattered into a million glittering pieces, throwing Vance and his guards off their feet.
Dense gray smoke filled the corridor. Through the haze, a flash of tactical light pierced the gloom, followed by the heavy thud of silenced gunshot rounds.
"Elias! Down!" a voice barked.
Elias ducked behind the steel console just as Detective Ben Croft—a veteran investigator from the State Police Special Crimes Unit, whom Marcus had contacted hours ago—charged through the smoke with a squad of heavily armed tactical officers.
"State Police! Drop your weapons!" Croft roared, pinning Vance to the floor and slamming handcuffs onto his wrists.
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Elias sprinted out of the smoke, grabbing Detective Croft by his tactical vest. "The cabin! They sent men to the cabin!"
"We know!" Croft yelled over the noise of the alarms. "We intercepted their communications twenty minutes ago! Our tactical team is already at the cabin! But Elias—your wife’s in labor!"
