Chapter 88 Emergency succession
Five minutes later, they were in a different vehicle, with Marcus wrapped in bandages, conscious but weak, and Jessica driving like she was in an action movie. General Holt is in the passenger seat, on the phone barking orders.
“Where’s Elena?” Ariella demanded. “Where’s my daughter?”
“Being retrieved as we speak,” Holt said. “My team tracked the SUV, They’re executing the extraction now.”
“Your team? Who the hell are you?”
“Someone who’s been investigating this network for eight years. Ever since they tried to force me to authorize drone strikes on American citizens and I told them to go to hell.” He hung up the phone. “Jessica brought me the files you uploaded. I’ve been waiting for evidence this concrete for years.”
“You’re the one who sent the USB drive,” Aiden realized.
“No. But I know who did. One of the network’s cleaners. A man named Sullivan, he contacted me six months ago. Said he wanted out but didn’t know how. I’ve been working with him ever since.”
“Why should we trust you?”
“Because…” Holt’s phone rang. He answered it, listened for a while then his expression softened. “They got her, Unharmed. With three hostiles eliminated. We’re en route to your location.”
He handed the phone to Ariella.
She heard crying, her baby crying…Elena crying.
“Oh my God,” Ariella sobbed. “Is she okay? Is she hurt?”
“She’s perfect,” a woman’s voice said. “Angry, Hungry, and needs a diaper change. But perfect. We’ll bring her to you in ten minutes.”
The call ended.
Ariella couldn’t stop shaking. “You got her. You actually got her.”
“We got her,” Holt confirmed. “But we’re not safe yet, The network knows you have the files. They know you set up a dead man’s switch. They’re going to move fast. Protocol Omega was already activating, This just accelerated their timeline.”
“What IS Protocol Omega?” Aiden demanded.
Holt pulled out a tablet. Showed them a document.
PROTOCOL OMEGA: AUTHORIZED RESPONSES TO CATASTROPHIC EXPOSURE
Stage One: Eliminate primary targets
Stage Two: Discredit evidence through controlled media
Stage Three: Activate emergency succession protocols
Stage Four: If containment fails, initiate Omega Event
“What’s an Omega Event?” Ariella whispered.
“Controlled demolition,” Jessica said from the driver’s seat. “They blow up their own network. Kill everyone involved, destroy all evidence, and make it look like a terrorist attack or mass accident. Then rebuild from scratch with new identities.”
“They’d kill their own people?”
“They’ve done it before,” Holt said grimly. “1987. A plane crash in Alaska killed forty-three people. All connected to a financial scandal. 2003. Building collapse in Chicago. Sixteen dead. All witnesses to illegal arms deals. The network doesn’t value loyalty. It values silence.”
“How many people are we talking about?”
“For a full Omega Event? Hundreds, maybe thousands. Anyone who knows too much. Including low-level employees, accountants, security guards, Anyone who could testify.”
Ariella felt sick. “We have to stop them.”
“We will. But first…” Holt’s phone rang again. “Yes?”
He listened. His face changed.
“When?” he paused. “How many?” Another pause. “Christ.”
He hung up.
“What?” Aiden asked.
“The network just activated Stage Three. They’re calling in markers, Judges, Prosecutors, and Media executives. They’re preparing for war.”
“What does that mean for us?”
“It means…” Holt looked at them both. “…by tomorrow morning, you’ll both be wanted for domestic terrorism. There’ll be warrants, Evidence linking you to extremist groups, Financial transactions proving you’re radicalized, the entire weight of the federal government will be hunting you.”
“That’s impossible…”
“It’s already happening. I just got word. DOJ is preparing indictments. It's sealed for now but they’ll be unsealed at dawn.”
Jessica swore. “They’re going to Waco them. Make it look like dangerous extremists forcing a standoff.”
“Then we release the files now,” Ariella said. “Everything, before they can spin the narrative.”
“If you release now, they’ll kill you before the files can be verified,” Holt said. “Public opinion takes time, Investigation takes time, you need to survive long enough for the truth to sink in.”
“How?”
A different vehicle pulled alongside them. The back door opened, and a woman handed something through the window.
It was Elena…Ariella grabbed her daughter, sobbing, clutching her so tight that Elena squeaked in protest. But she was alive, Unharmed, and Perfect.
“Hi baby,” Ariella gasped. “Hi, sweet girl. Mama’s got you. Mama’s got you.”
Aiden wrapped around them both, his whole body shaking.
“We’re not losing her again,” he said. “Whatever it takes. We’re not losing her.”
Holt’s phone buzzed. He read the message then looked up.
“Decision time. We can try to run, get you out of the country, get new identities, and spend the rest of your lives hiding. Or…”
“Or?” Aiden asked.
“Or we go on offense, We set a trap, make them come to us and we get everything on camera. Live broadcast. No editing. No spin. Just raw truth.” Holt leaned forward. “But if we do this, some of you might not survive. This is their endgame. They’ll throw everything at us.”
Ariella looked at Elena, at her perfect, innocent daughter who’d been kidnapped twice in a week. Who deserved better than a life on the run?
“We fight,” she said. “We end this. For her.”
“Agreed,” Aiden said.
Holt smiled. Grim, Determined. “Then let’s go to war.”
Outside, dawn was breaking over New York.
And somewhere in a secure facility, the network was gathering.
Preparing for the final battle.
One side is fighting for power.
The other is fighting for the truth.
Only one would survive.