Chapter 3 - THE WRONG DRIVE

At 11:47 p.m., Alex parked beneath an abandoned parking structure near the river.

He was alone.

At least, that was what Meridian was supposed to believe.

The silver drive sat inside his coat.

It looked identical to the original.

It wasn't.

Maya had spent two hours building it.

The moment anyone connected it to a networked machine, it would silently transmit its location.

And something else.

Every file on it looked authentic.

Until opened.

Then the system locked.

Alex had one job.

Get close enough to Noah.

His headlights illuminated concrete pillars.

A black sedan waited three levels above.

Alex climbed the stairs.

Two men stood beside Noah.

He was alive.

Barely steady.

Victor wasn't there.

One of the men pointed toward Alex.

“The drive.”

Alex held it up.

“Noah first.”

The man laughed.

“You think you're negotiating?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you haven't killed him.”

The man's smile disappeared.

Alex continued.

“If Noah were useless, he'd already be dead.”

Noah looked at Alex.

Almost imperceptibly, he shook his head.

Don't.

Alex ignored him.

“Let him walk toward me.”

The larger man drew a pistol.

Alex's heart hammered.

“Drive.”

Alex tossed it.

The second man caught it.

He connected it to a laptop.

Seconds passed.

“It's encrypted.”

“Obviously.”

“Password.”

Alex looked at Noah.

“Let him go.”

The gun moved toward Noah's head.

“Password.”

Alex gave them one.

The screen unlocked.

Folders appeared.

The man with the laptop nodded.

“Looks right.”

Noah was shoved forward.

He stumbled.

Alex caught him.

“Walk.”

They turned.

Ten feet.

Fifteen.

Twenty.

Then the laptop beeped.

The gunman shouted.

“STOP!”

Alex and Noah ran.

Gunfire cracked behind them.

Concrete shattered.

They dove behind a parked delivery truck.

A second later, every light in the parking structure went out.

Maya.

Noah laughed despite the blood on his face.

“You brought her?”

“Of course.”

A car engine roared below.

Alex dragged Noah down the ramp.

Maya's SUV shot around the corner.

Passenger door open.

“MOVE!”

They jumped inside.

Maya accelerated before the door closed.

A bullet punched through the rear window.

Alex ducked.

They burst onto the street.

Maya turned twice, then entered downtown traffic.

Noah leaned back, breathing hard.

Alex looked at him.

“You stole the fourth drive.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Noah stared through the cracked window.

“To protect it.”

“From who?”

Noah looked at Maya.

Then at Alex.

“From her.”

Maya's hands tightened on the wheel.

Alex said nothing.

“Maya gave Meridian the audit report,” Noah said.

“What?”

“That isn't true.”

“Yes, it is.”

Maya slammed the brakes at a red light.

“I sent Victor a summary because we were legally required to disclose material technical findings.”

“You sent him the location of the backups.”

“I did not.”

Noah reached into his torn jacket.

Maya immediately turned.

“What are you doing?”

Noah pulled out a phone.

He handed it to Alex.

An email filled the screen.

FROM: MAYA CHEN

TO: VICTOR HALE

Attached:

Backup Architecture — Restricted

Alex slowly raised his eyes.

Maya looked at the email.

Then whispered:

“I never sent that.”

Noah laughed bitterly.

“It came from your account.”

“Someone used my account.”

“Convenient.”

Alex looked between them.

The light turned green.

Nobody moved.

A horn blasted behind them.

Finally Maya drove.

Alex examined the email headers.

Something caught his attention.

Timestamp.

3:14 a.m.

Eight weeks earlier.

He remembered that night.

Maya hadn't been in the office.

She had been with Alex.

At the hospital.

Because Alex's father had suffered a heart attack.

Maya couldn't have sent it.

Alex looked at Noah.

“She was with me.”

Noah's expression changed.

Maya exhaled.

“So someone inside our company had my credentials.”

Alex stared at the email again.

There were only twelve employees with administrator-level access.

But only one other person knew Maya's private recovery phrase.

Alex slowly looked up.

“Our attorney.”

Noah frowned.

“Elise?”

Alex nodded.

Elise Ward.

The attorney who had negotiated every page of the acquisition.

The woman who had repeatedly told Alex:

Meridian is giving you the deal of a lifetime.

Alex's phone rang.

Elise Ward.

All three stared at the screen.

Alex answered.

“Elise.”

Her voice was trembling.

“Alex, thank God.”

“What happened?”

“You need to listen to me.”

Alex glanced at Maya.

“I'm listening.”

“Victor knows you rescued Noah.”

Alex's jaw tightened.

“How?”

“Because somebody told him.”

“Who?”

Elise began crying.

May you like

2 THAT AFTERNOON, I CLAIMED MY HOSPITAL ROOM—A SICK CHILD CALLED ME GRAN...

I walked into a private Boston hospital room and found a frightened seven-year-old where I expected an empty bed. Angry, I picked...

64 THE WRENCH THAT EXPOSED A MILITARY CONSPIRACY

PART 1The chrome wrench was still warm from the engine when Chief Warrant Officer Dale Rusk threw a heavy toolbag at Specialist Le...

SHE THREW HIS BABY OFF THE BALCONY—THEN HIS DEAD WIFE'S SECRET RECORDING...

“PLEASE! HE'S JUST A BABY!” Maria screamed as the billionaire's fiancée held his eight-month-old son over a second-floor balcony.T...

“I did.”