Chapter 37
Heavy boots pounded down the corridor. "Hold them off!" Rachel yelled, her fingers flying across the keys as a progress bar slowly filled on her screen. "I just need thirty seconds to upload the virus!"
Gabriel didn't hesitate. He stepped out of the server room, providing a wall of suppressive fire down the hallway, pinning the advancing Aethelgard mercenaries behind a marble reception desk. The silenced popping of his weapon was drowned out by the deafening alarm.
"Twenty seconds!" Rachel called out, watching the progress bar crawl toward completion.
A stray bullet shattered a glass partition near Gabriel’s head. He ducked, reloading flawlessly, his slate-gray eyes blazing with lethal focus. He was buying her time with his life, just as Daniel had done for him years ago.
"Upload complete!" Rachel shouted, yanking the transceiver from the console.
"Move!" Gabriel grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the emergency stairwell just as a fresh wave of mercenaries poured into the corridor.
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They sprinted down the concrete stairs, their footsteps echoing loudly. The virus was now in the Aethelgard system, programmed to silently alter shipping manifests, redirect funds to dummy charities, and create catastrophic logistical errors that would paralyze Victor’s operations without triggering their main security alarms.
They reached the underground parking garage, where Bruno was waiting in an armored SUV with the engine running. They dove into the backseat as a hail of gunfire chewed up the concrete pillars behind them. Bruno slammed the accelerator, tearing out of the garage and disappearing into the chaotic Chicago traffic.
