Chapter 6 - The Shadow Investor
Margaret froze on the third step from the bottom, her hand tightening around the polished iron banister until her knuckles turned white.
Erika Vance.
The name clicked into place like a poisoned key turning in a lock. Jason had mentioned her once or twice at family dinners years ago—a brilliant pharmacologist working in Zurich who had disappeared into the dark, unregulated world of private biotechnology syndicates.
“You funded it,” Margaret said, her voice dropping an octave into a low, dangerous growl. “You’re the one who financed the poison.”
Erika didn't flinch. She offered a cold, professional smile that didn't reach her pale blue eyes.
“Science requires sacrifice, Mrs. Vance. What Jason and Rebecca built wasn't murder; it was a breakthrough. A temporary metabolic stasis capable of bypassing cellular decay during organ harvesting and neurological repair. Do you have any idea how many billions of dollars—how many lives—that technology could save?”
“By sacrificing a six-year-old child?” Margaret shouted, taking two steps down toward the foyer. “She is my granddaughter! She is a human being, not a lab rat for your greedy little syndicate!”
Erika sighed, stepping toward the front door as if she had an appointment elsewhere. “Sentimentality is the death of progress. But it doesn't matter now. The authorities have the primary lab notes, yes... but the master server codes—the encryption keys for the entire off-site database in Geneva—were stored on a flash drive in Jason’s study desk. And since Jason is indisposed, I’m here to collect my property.”
Margaret realized instantly what Erika was after. If Erika secured those encryption codes, the syndicate would survive. They could sell the illegal research to foreign buyers, wipe their slates clean, and continue their horrific experiments in the shadows.
Not on her watch.
Without thinking, Margaret turned on her heel, sprinted back up the stairs, and bolted toward the ground-floor study at the end of the hall.
“Stop her!” Erika hissed, her professional composure finally cracking as she rushed up the staircase after her.
Margaret reached the study door just as Erika’s footsteps pounded up the stairs behind her. She threw the heavy oak door open, rushed to the mahogany executive desk, and pulled open the bottom drawer.
There it was—a small, black titanium flash drive resting on a velvet-lined tray, labeled with a string of alphanumeric code.
Footsteps rushed into the doorway.
“Hand it over, Margaret,” Erika demanded, stepping into the room with her hand extended, holding a small, sleek canister of aerosol spray. “Don't be a fool. You can't fight a global network.”
Margaret looked down at the flash drive, then up at Erika. She didn't hesitate.
Instead of handing it over, Margaret whipped her arm back and threw the titanium drive with all her might directly through the large, stained-glass window behind the desk.
The glass shattered in a brilliant explosion of colored light, sending shards raining down onto the stone patio three floors below.
“No!” Erika screamed, lunging forward.
Before Erika could reach her, Margaret grabbed a heavy brass paperweight from the desk and swung it sideways, catching Erika square across the wrist. The aerosol canister dropped to the floor with a clatter, discharging a cloud of harmless compressed air against the rug.
Sirens began wailing in the distance—closer this time, much closer. CPD cruisers were already turning onto Lincoln Park West, responding to the silent panic alarm Margaret’s smartwatch had automatically triggered when her heart rate spiked.
Erika clutched her bruised wrist, glaring at Margaret with pure venom.
“You’ve ruined everything,” Erika spat, backing toward the hallway.
“I saved a little girl,” Margaret replied calmly, standing tall against the wreckage of the study. “And you’re about to join your cousins in a cell.”
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Erika bolted down the hallway, her footsteps fading as she fled through the service exit just as the front door burst open with a crash of police boots.
“FBI! Chicago PD! Clear the house!”
