Chapter 86 Dead man’s switch
Aiden pulled up another file, a list that contained names and dates.
“Targets,” he read. “Protocol Omega targets. Scheduled for elimination between now and…” His face went white. “Between now and next week.”
Ariella looked over his shoulder, her mother’s name was on the list.
Jessica Reeves’ name was on the list, Marcus Chen’s name was also on the list, and at the very top was Aiden Frost, Ariella Hayes Frost, Elena Frost. Priority One. No traces.
“We have to warn them,” Ariella said. “Everyone on this list…”
“There are sixty names here,” Marcus said. “Journalists, Investigators, Prosecutors, and Anyone who’s ever looked into financial corruption. If we warn them all, the network will know we have the files.”
“If we don’t warn them, they die!”
A phone rang. Not any of theirs. A burner phone that had been in the package with the USB drive.
They stared at it.
Marcus answered. “Hello?”
A voice. Digitally distorted. “Did you watch the videos?”
“Who is this?”
“Someone who’s killed forty-three people on orders from the network, Someone who’s finally tired of it all. Listen carefully. You have less time than you think. They know about the package. They’re moving up the timeline, Protocol Omega activates in twelve hours, not seventy-two.”
“That’s impossible…”
“Check the news. Three senators just announced emergency meetings. The Attorney General just cleared his schedule, The President just returned early from Camp David, They’re convening. Deciding how to handle you.”
“The President?” Ariella’s voice was hollow.
“Not him directly, but his Chief of Staff is on the videos, so is his National Security Advisor. The network goes all the way to the top.”
“What do we do?”
“You run, Or you fight. There’s no middle ground.” The voice paused. “If you fight, you need insurance, Something they can’t destroy even if they destroy you.”
“Like what?”
“Dead man’s switch! Release everything to every major media outlet simultaneously, Time-delayed. If you don’t check in every twelve hours, it goes public automatically. They can’t kill you without exposing themselves.”
“Why are you helping us?” Aiden demanded.
“Because I have a daughter too, she's eight years old. She thinks I’m a consultant, a boring businessman but She doesn’t know I’ve killed for money since before she was born.” The voice cracked. “I want out. But the only way out is to burn it all down. You’re my match. Light the fire, I’ll make sure it spreads.”
“Who are you?”
“Someone who’ll never tell you, But someone who’s going to spend the next twelve hours making sure you survive long enough to release those files. Good luck, Mr. and Mrs. Frost. You’re going to need it.”
The line went dead.
Marcus was already moving. “We need to relocate. Now. Get Elena, Grab essentials, We have a safe house in…”
“ There are no safe houses,” Aiden said. “They’re monitoring FBI facilities. This person, whoever sent this…they’re right. We need to go public. Immediately.”
“With unverified files…”
“With the truth!” Aiden slammed his hand on the table. “I don’t care if it’s messy, I don’t care if it’s unverified, My daughter’s name is on a kill list next to the President’s Chief of Staff. We’re past worrying about optics.”
Ariella was already on her laptop, uploading files and Copying them to encrypted cloud storage, Setting up automated releases.
“What are you doing?” Marcus asked.
“Dead man’s switch! Every major news outlet, Every journalist who’s ever investigated corruption. Hell, every random blogger with a platform, If we don’t check in every twelve hours…” She hit send. “…the world learns the truth.”
“They’ll come for you…”
“They’re already coming for us, At least this way we have leverage.”
Upstairs, Elena was still crying. Ariella ran to get her, Marcus close behind for security.
The nursery was empty, Elena’s crib was empty, The window was open.
And on the pillow was a note in handwriting Ariella recognized from Victoria’s letters:
Twelve hours, Or your daughter disappears forever. Delete the files, Call off your dead man’s switch, and maybe, just maybe…we’ll let you all live.
…VM
Ariella’s scream brought Aiden and half the FBI running, But by the time they reached the window, whoever had taken Elena was long gone.
And the twelve-hour countdown had already begun.