Chapter 16 - The Voice from the Tape
"They brought hired men?" Dennis asked, his face draining of what little color it had regained. "Julian’s family... the Sterling Group. If old Sterling is backing Eleanor, they’re not here to negotiate. They’re here to destroy the paper trail before the court receivers take possession tomorrow."
"They won't find paper," I said, my voice ice cold. "Because there isn't any."
I pressed the second micro-cassette into the recording bay beside the terminal. The tape engaged with a metallic snap.
*"Nina,"* my father’s recorded voice returned, but this time his tone was stripped of all warmth. It was the voice of a man who had weighed his enemies on a scale and found them entirely devoid of mercy. *"If Eleanor enters this facility with force, do not flee. The Rosetta was built as a fortress before it was an enterprise. The subterranean level you stand in can be isolated with a single switch beneath the drafting table. But you must let them reach the central atrium first. They need to believe they have won."*
The recording clicked, followed by a low, mechanical whirring sound from behind the cork walls. A small hidden panel slid open, revealing an array of black master breaker switches labeled *CIVIC GRID OVERRIDE*.
"David had an agreement with the city municipal authority," Dennis whispered, sudden realization dawning on his weathered face. "The Rosetta controls the central steam line and the primary optical fiber trunk for the entire commercial district. If Eleanor attempts an armed takeover, she isn't just trespassing on a private company. She is committing federal infrastructure sabotage."
Upstairs, a muffled percussion thudded through the bedrock.
"They’re using breaching charges on the freight elevator doors," Marcus said, checking the magazine of his tactical sidearm before chambering a round with a sharp metallic snap. "They don't know about the secondary access stairwell behind the boiler room. We have four minutes before they reach the basement level."
"No," I said, stepping between Marcus and the vault door. "We don't shoot. Not down here. Not in his sanctuary."
I turned back to the glowing terminal and typed a four-letter command that had been written inside my father's ledger: *L-A-T-C-H.*
Across the subterranean vault, every monitor flickered to life simultaneously. The entire security infrastructure of the forty-two-story complex materialized on sixty high-resolution displays.
On Camera 3, Eleanor Ross was marching through the shattered glass of the private VIP entrance, wrapped in a chinchilla fur coat, her eyes wild with a manic, cornered fury. Behind her stood Julian Sterling, looking pale and furious, flanked by six men in sterile gray tactical uniforms carrying crowbars and heavy utility bags.
Kayla trailed behind them, dragging an empty designer duffel bag, screaming at the men to hurry before the sirens arrived.
"They think the original ledger and physical bearer bonds are in the penthouse safe," Dennis observed, pointing at Camera 12, which showed the private elevator ascending directly toward my personal suite.
"Let them search it," I said, my hand resting firmly on the master breaker switch. "Marcus, take Dennis into the subterranean safe room behind the vault. Lock it from the inside."
"Ms. Ross, I am not leaving you unprotected," Marcus insisted firmly.
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"You aren't leaving me unprotected, Marcus," I replied, meeting his eyes with an unshakable calm. "I have forty-two stories of steel and my father’s hand on the controls. Go. Now."
***
