Chapter 7 - The Trial of Christopher Vale
The trap was set, and it didn't take long for the prey to take the bait.
Three nights later, under the cover of a massive summer thunderstorm, Christopher and Julian Vale attempted to infiltrate the Vale Dynamics research facility in the tech district. Julian had created a sophisticated signal jammer to bypass the building's external security, and using Christopher’s old, deactivated emergency override code, they managed to slip into the basement where the physical mainframe was housed.
They thought they were ghosts. They didn't realize that every step they took was being monitored in high-definition by my security team at the Sloan estate.
"They've bypassed the second firewall," Marcus reported, watching the monitors in the library. "Julian is good. He’s bypassing our digital locks with a custom-built decryption device."
"Let them get to the main terminal," I said, holding a cup of warm tea. "The moment Julian inserts his drive, trigger the lockdown."
On the screen, Christopher was pacing nervously, looking around the dark, server-filled room. "Hurry up, Julian! If the alarms go off, we're dead."
"Relax, little brother," Julian sneered, his fingers flying across a portable keyboard. "Your wife might be rich, but she’s relying on standard corporate security. I built my first backdoor before she graduated high school. There... I’m in. Initiating the transfer."
Julian plugged a sleek, black flash drive into the main terminal.
Instantly, the blue lights on the server racks turned a violent, flashing red. A loud, high-pitched siren began to wail, and heavy, steel security doors slammed down over the exits, sealing them inside the server room.
"What's happening?!" Christopher shrieked, throwing himself against the steel doors. "Julian, turn it off!"
"I can't!" Julian yelled, his eyes wide with panic as his laptop screen began to glitch, covered in lines of code that rapidly deleted his files. "It's a honeypot! They knew we were coming! The system is frying my drive!"
The main screen in the server room flickered to life. My face appeared on the monitor.
"Good evening, Christopher. Julian," I said, my voice calm and echoing through the speakers. "I must admit, Julian, your encryption bypass was impressive. But you underestimated my developers. They’ve been waiting for you."
"Veronica!" Christopher screamed, running to the camera lens. "Let us out! You can't do this!"
"I didn't do this, Christopher. You did," I said. "You broke into a secure, private facility with the intent to commit corporate espionage and grand larceny. The police and the FBI are already outside the building. This time, there are no divorce papers. There are no civil courts. You are going to prison."
The video feed cut out.
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On the security cameras, we watched as the SWAT team blew open the steel doors, rushing into the room with rifles drawn. Christopher immediately threw his hands in the air, weeping and falling to his knees, while Julian was tackled to the ground.
It was over. The threat was finally, completely neutralized.
