Chapter 216: Protection from the Past
Brooklyn Navy Yard. Warehouse 4.
A faint blue light bled from the gaps in the warehouse door.
"Stay in the car," Ryan said, checking his gun. "I don't want anything happening to you or the baby."
"That’s my life’s work in there," Evelyn said, unbuckling her seatbelt. "If he’s destroying the servers, I’m the only one who knows how to save the data."
Ryan looked at her and gave in. "Stay close to me."
CRASH!
Ryan kicked open the rusted door. In the center of the warehouse, servers hummed. A hooded man sat before a wall of monitors. He turned in a panic.
"Black Mamba," Ryan said coldly.
"Ryan Lawrence..." The hacker didn't run. Instead, he hovered his hand over a red 'Enter' key. "You're fast. But I'm one step away."
"Don't move!" Ryan aimed his weapon.
"This is a physical wipe command," the hacker laughed maniacally. "One press, and the surge fries every hard drive."
"You wouldn't!" Evelyn stepped forward.
"Watch me!" He slammed the key.
Zzzzt!
A sharp electrical hum filled the room. Sparks flew from the servers, and the lights went dead.
"It’s over... all of it..." The hacker slumped back, laughing. "No backups. No cloud. Evelyn, your talent is now trash."
Ryan was about to shoot the man’s knee when Evelyn lunged for the console. She shoved the hacker aside and began typing into a glowing green terminal.
"You think my designs are just pictures?" she said.
"What is this?" The hacker’s laughter stopped.
"A watermark," Evelyn said, hitting the final key. "I wove binary code into the pixel layers like 'invisible fabric.' You burned the surface, but you couldn't touch the bones."
On the screen, the deleted files began to reconstruct themselves.
"No... impossible..." The hacker tried to pull the power cables.
Thwack!
Ryan smashed the butt of his gun into the man's head. He crumpled to the floor. Ryan pinned him down with a boot. "Who sent you? Who else is alive?"
The hacker spat blood. "You won't win... the money... the money..."
"What money?" Ryan pressed harder.
"The organization... they moved a fortune... thirty billion dollars in cash and bonds... hidden in New York..."
Evelyn turned around. "Where?"
The hacker looked at the ring on Evelyn’s finger and gave a twisted smile. "First National Bank... vault 77."
Evelyn froze. First National Bank. That was where her father had proposed to her mother. It was their bank.
"How do we open it?" Ryan asked.
"Besides Madeleine Lawrence’s signature..." The hacker’s voice trailed off. "You need a key. A key only her daughter has." He stared at the iris ring.
Ryan knocked the man out cold. Outside, the sirens were getting closer.
Twenty-four hours later, Nova Group didn't collapse. It soared.
The video of Evelyn saving her designs using the "hidden watermark" had leaked. The fashion world was obsessed. "Luxury meets technology!" they shouted. Within hours, brands like LV and Gucci were calling for collaborations.
But Evelyn wasn't celebrating. At the First National Bank, the manager cleared the floor and led Ryan and Evelyn to the third basement level.
"Vault 77," the manager said. "It hasn't been opened in thirty-five years. The fees are paid by a permanent trust in Switzerland."
Ryan sent the guards away. "Ready?"
Evelyn nodded. She signed her mother’s name on the verification screen.
Beep. First lock open.
Then, she saw a precision slot. She took off her iris ring and placed it inside. It fit perfectly.
Click-clack-click.
The heavy alloy door swung open. The smell of old paper and ink filled the air.
The vault had two levels. The bottom was packed with bundles of Swiss bearer bonds—billions of dollars in blood money. Evelyn didn't look at it for a second.
She stared at the top shelf. There was a red velvet diary and an old video tape.
Evelyn’s hand trembled. As she touched the diary, she started to cry. "Ryan. It’s all here."
Ryan swept the bonds aside like trash and carefully took out the tape and the diary. "Manager!" he yelled. "Find me a player for this. Now!"