Silas laughed again. “You don’t seem to understand your position, my dear. You walked into an abattoir. I don’t need to negotiate with you. I can simply torture your husband until you give me the key. Or better yet…”
He drew a heavy, serrated combat knife from his belt and stepped toward me, his eyes dropping to my swollen belly.
“I can cut it out of you.”
Alex let out a deafening, feral roar, straining so hard against the chains I thought his wrists would snap. The heavy steel chair scraped across the concrete floor, but he couldn’t break free.
I backed away, pure terror finally clawing its way up my throat.
“Wait!” I screamed, holding my hands up protectively over my stomach. “The decryption key isn’t a password! It’s an action!”
Silas paused, the knife hovering inches from my dress. “An action?”
“The files are rigged with a dead-man’s switch,” I lied frantically, recalling a plot point from a spy movie I had watched with Alex months ago. I prayed to God it sounded convincing. “If the decryption key isn’t entered within ten minutes of the drive being plugged in, the files will auto-corrupt and erase permanently. And the only way to get the key is for me to call Arthur back and confirm Alex is safe.”
Silas hesitated, staring at me. He was greedy. The thought of losing the leverage he had waited fifteen years to reclaim was agonizing to him.
He looked at the tech. “Is she telling the truth?”
“I… I can’t tell, boss,” the tech stammered, sweating. “The encryption is military-grade. If there’s a wipe protocol, attempting a brute-force hack might trigger it.”
Silas cursed violently. He shoved his knife back into his belt and pointed a finger at me.
“Make the call,” Silas ordered. “Tell Arthur his son is safe. Get the key.”
He handed me a burner phone.
I took the phone, my hands shaking so badly I almost dropped it. I dialed the Swiss number, praying Arthur would answer, and praying he would play along with whatever desperate lie I came up with next.
The phone rang twice.
“Speak,” Arthur’s cold voice answered.
“Arthur, it’s Rebecca,” I said, my voice echoing in the silent warehouse. “I’m with Silas. He verified the drive. He wants the decryption key.”
“I told you, you foolish girl,” Arthur sighed, sounding immensely annoyed. “There is no decryption key. Those files are useless.”
My heart stopped.
“What?” I breathed, the blood draining from my face.
“Did you really think I would hand you the keys to my kingdom just because you asked nicely?” Arthur mocked gently. “The drive I sent you is filled with dummy files and a tracking beacon. I needed to know exactly where Silas was holding my son so my tactical team could breach the building.”
Before I could even process his words, the concrete ceiling of the warehouse exploded.
