Part 13
The next morning,
the news broke,
unexpectedly.
A massive data leak,
involving international banks,
splashed across the screens.
Eleanor stood,
frozen,
watching the television in the lobby.
Pacific Media was buzzing,
reporters scrambling,
trying to verify the source.
Julian rushed over,
holding a tablet,
his eyes wide.
"Did you see this?" he asked,
pointing at the screen.
"It is the London bank,
the one from the photo," she noted,
her mind racing.
"Someone leaked their ledgers,
all of them," he added,
scrolling through the data.
"Lang," she whispered,
realizing the truth.
"He is covering his tracks,
by burning the house down."
Margaret walked up to them,
her expression stern,
demanding answers.
"Are we running this?" she asked,
looking at Eleanor.
"We have to verify it,
first," Eleanor replied,
maintaining her professional tone.
"But this is connected,
to our old friends," Julian interjected,
lowering his voice.
Margaret's eyes narrowed,
understanding the implication.
"Take a secure room,
use the encrypted servers,
and find out who is behind it."
They retreated to the basement,
away from the noise,
locking the door behind them.
Julian started typing,
rapidly,
running traces on the data packets.
"The IP is masked,
bouncing through a dozen countries,
but it originated in Europe."
"Look for the name,
or the alias,
Director," she suggested,
watching the code scroll.
Hours passed,
silently,
broken only by the clicking keys.
Then,
the screen flashed red,
a warning sign.
"Someone is pushing back,
trying to hack our system," Julian warned,
his fingers flying across the keyboard.
"Sever the connection," she ordered,
feeling a surge of panic.
"I can't,
they have locked me out," he grunted,
sweat forming on his brow.
The monitors flickered,
then went completely black,
plunging them into darkness.
A single line of text,
glowing in stark white,
appeared on the main screen.
'Stop looking.'
Eleanor stared at it,
her heart pounding,
in her chest.
They knew,
they were watching,
and they were fast.
Julian pulled the physical plug,
killing the power,
to save their local drives.
The room was plunged,
into total silence,
heavy and oppressive.
"They burned our proxy," he said,
breathing heavily.
"We rattled the cage,
and the monster woke up," she whispered,
stepping back.
"What now?" he asked,
turning to her.
"We go old school," she decided,
her voice firm.
"No digital trails,
no emails,
only paper and secure lines."
They had stepped onto the board,
May you like
and the first move,
was a threat.
