Emily Hung on to her phone and leaned against the rooftop railing, Blackwood's threatening words still ringing in her ears. He had said, "Emily, you're still alive."
"But that won't last long."
Her thoughts were racing as she gazed down over the metropolis. She took short, shallow breaths. The man in the alley had vanished into the night, but she knew better than to believe she was safe. Blackwood had a huge impact. She was only a piece in his risky game, and the stakes were higher than ever.
As she shoved her phone into her pocket, her fingers brushed against the flash drive she had stolen from Blackwood's building. In the confusion of the hunt, she had almost forgotten it. Her lifeline. Whatever terrible truths Blackwood may be concealing, this was the key to them. However, she was unable to interpret its contents here. She required a secure location—somewhere out of Blackwood's grasp.
Emily looked at her timepiece. It was nearly midnight. The city's dim light obscured the streets below, which were suddenly more silent than usual. Blackwood's men had already discovered her at her apartment and would surely return, so it was out of the question. She needed to vanish. Nathan was the only obvious candidate.
For years, Nathan, a cybersecurity specialist and former hacker, had been her tech-savvy confidant. He was the only one who could decipher the encryption on the flash drive. But there were dangers in calling Nathan. He would also become a target if Blackwood found out about their relationship.
Emily hesitated for a moment, then took out her phone once more and called him. After the telephone rang twice, Nathan's drowsy, irritated voice finally answered.
"Emily, do you know what time it is?"
She made no-nonsense of it.
"Nate, I'm in danger. I need your assistance."
His tone instantly changed from irritation to concern.
"What's happening? Are you alright?"
"Not even close."
Nervously, she looked over her shoulder.
"I have something—something significant. However, I need you to look at it. Can we get together?"
Nathan didn't think twice.
"Where?"
A few blocks away, Emily gave him the address of an all-night diner.
"I'll go into detail there."
Except for a lone waitress and a man bent over a cup of coffee in the corner, the diner was almost empty when Emily arrived. She slid nervously into a back booth and looked around the room. Every sound, even the hum of fluorescent lights and the clatter of dishes in the kitchen sounded amplified. Blackwood's troops seemed ready to charge in at any second.
After ten minutes, Nathan came in with a dark hoodie pulled down over his head and a rucksack thrown over one shoulder. He slid into the booth opposite her, his eyes keen despite the late hour. He remarked,
"You look like hell," pointing out the slight bruise on her temple.
"It feels like it too," Emily muttered as she moved the flash drive across the table. "This is what I want you to examine."
Turning it over in his hands, Nathan accepted it.
"What's on it?"
"I'm not sure yet. However, Damien Blackwood is connected to it. It's there, whatever he's hiding."
Nathan's eyebrow went up.
"Blackwood? Emily, what in the world have you gotten yourself into?"
She looked in the direction of the diner's entrance.
"I have no time to elaborate. Simply put, are you able to crack it?"
Nathan sighed and took a laptop out of his rucksack.
"Let's examine our current situation."
As the screen blazed with firewalls and encryption layers, he put in the flash drive and ran his fingers over the keyboard.
"The person who locked this up wasn't playing around," he said, his forehead pinched.
Emily felt a knot in her stomach. The more work Blackwood had done to protect the information, the more damning it had to be. Minutes went by, every second seeming to drag on forever.
At last, Nathan grinned and reclined in his chair. With triumph, he declared,
"I'm in."
A set of files appeared on the screen, and Emily leaned closer. One folder, "Project Eden," stood out among the others, which were all labeled with mysterious codes.
"What on earth is that?"
Nathan clicked on the folder and muttered. Dozens of papers, movies, and spreadsheets were contained within. A ledger was the first file Nathan opened.
"Payments, offshore accounts… This is huge, Emily. Enormous."
As Emily read over his shoulder, her heart raced. Large payouts to senior government and law enforcement officers were noted in the ledger. Blackwood ruled an empire of bribery, corruption, and terror in addition to being a successful businessman.
The subsequent file, however, froze her blood. Nathan clicked on a grainy video of a room with low lighting. A man was bound to a chair, battered and bruised. A calm, even bored, Blackwood loomed over him.
"You only worked at one job," Blackwood remarked icily. "Just one easy assignment. You also failed."
As the violence in the video increased, Emily's stomach churned. Her hands were shaking by the time the screen went blank.
With a pallid face, Nathan closed the laptop.
"Emily, this goes beyond simple corruption. It's homicide."
He tapped the flash disk and said,
"This is evidence that could bring Blackwood down. He's running a criminal empire."
With a trembling voice, Emily reached for the flash drive.
"This has to be sent to someone who can take action. Someone with the ability to stop him."
Nathan paused, looking at the door of the diner.
"Emily, you're not safe. If Blackwood is aware that you own this—"
Grimly, she broke off.
"He is already aware. He gave me a call. He is aware of my pursuit of him."
A gunshot flew past Emily's head and broke the glass door of the diner before Nathan could react.
Emily's heart thumping in her chest, she fled for safety as chaos broke out. Blackwood didn't hold out. He was going to get her.