Part 40
I didn't wait for a reply. I smashed the satellite communicator under the heel of my boot, shattering it into pieces so they couldn't trace our current location.
The sun began to peek through the thick canopy of the forest, casting long, golden fingers of light through the dirty windows of the cabin.
The storm had finally passed, leaving behind a crisp, silent morning that felt completely disconnected from the violence of the night before.
I checked my weapons, cleaning the moisture from the rifle barrel and ensuring the remaining magazines were free of dirt.
I had enough ammunition for one final, decisive strike.
I walked over to the cot, looking down at Elena’s peaceful face as she slept, her breathing steady and calm at last.
She had survived the night, proving she had the same resilience that had kept me alive through the dark chapters of my own past.
I reached into the inner pocket of my wet jacket, pulling out a small, metallic silver flash drive that I had hidden before the FBI raided my house.
This drive didn't contain Victor’s financial crimes or his illegal extortion schemes.
It contained the offshore bank accounts, the home addresses, and the biometric access codes of every single member of the Vanguard elite network—including the Architect.
They thought they were the predators, hunting a vulnerable mother and her child in the dark.
They didn't realize they had walked into a trap of their own making, exposing their entire network just to catch me.
I slipped the drive back into my pocket, slinging the rifle over my shoulder as I prepared to wake Elena for the final journey.
We would move toward the nearest city, disappear into the crowds, and begin dismantling Vanguard piece by piece, starting from the very top.
Victor Sterling had asked me who I was before he was dragged away in chains, and I had told him I was a mother protecting her child.
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But what he didn't realize was that a mother protecting her child is the most ruthless, unstoppable force on the face of this earth.
And the Architect was about to learn that lesson the hard way.
