Chapter 6 - The Betrayal
The storm broke on a Tuesday, exactly one week after the gala. Marcus Thorne, the man Garrett had been monitoring, invited Eleanor to a private viewing of a new R&D lab in the city’s industrial sector. Garrett’s gut screamed against it, but Eleanor was adamant. "If I don't face him, I’m hiding," she insisted.
The trap was elegant in its cruelty. As they entered the lab, the steel doors sealed with a hydraulic hiss. The lights flickered and died, replaced by the red glow of emergency strobes. Thorne appeared on a monitor, his face twisted in a smug, victorious grin.
"The board has already voted, Eleanor," Thorne’s voice boomed through the speakers. "Vance Dynamics is being liquidated. And your security detail? He’s the fall guy."
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Suddenly, the security screens shifted, broadcasting a falsified video file of Garrett "stealing" proprietary data from the server room—a file planted by the very software he had helped secure. Before he could react, local law enforcement sirens wailed in the distance. They were being framed for the very crime they had been trying to prevent.
"We have to move," Garrett roared, grabbing Eleanor’s arm. He didn't use the elevator; he smashed the glass of an emergency exit and dragged her into the service stairwell. He could hear the heavy boots of the Syndicate’s tactical team echoing behind them. He had been a SEAL; he knew how to lose a tail. He pulled a small EMP device from his kit—a contingency he had built for this exact nightmare—and triggered it. The building plunged into total darkness.
