Chapter 12 - A Calculated Betrayal
Dominic did not lower his weapon. He slowly reached into his inner pocket with his left hand, producing the blood-stained titanium cylinder. He held it between his index finger and thumb, letting the fluorescent lights catch its polished edges.
Sterling’s eyes flickered with naked greed. "Wise choice. Toss it over."
"You always were short-sighted, Sterling," Dominic said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "You spent five years preparing to betray the families of this city, thinking you were the only man with access to the Meridian mainframe."
Sterling’s sneer faded slightly. "What are you talking about?"
"Dean didn't just carry your key," Dominic said. "Dean contacted me forty-eight hours ago. He knew you were going to kill him the moment the transfer was complete. He gave me the decryption algorithms for your offshore accounts two days before he put this cylinder inside Elena's shoulder."
Sterling's face darkened. "He's lying! Shoot him!"
"Wait!" Dominic's voice cut through the air like a whip. He raised the cylinder higher. "This isn't just a key, Thomas. Look at the flashing red frequency on the base. When Dr. Evans removed it, he didn't disable the secondary circuit. He rerouted it."
Dominic pressed the bottom edge of the cylinder with his thumb.
Across the room, the four private security guards received a synchronized high-priority ping on their encrypted wrist communicators. The lead guard glanced down at his screen, his eyes widening in shock.
"What is that?" Sterling demanded, turning angrily in his chair. "I gave you an order! Kill him!"
"Sir..." the lead guard muttered, lowering his weapon an inch. "The payment account... the Cayman escrow fund... it's being emptied. Every asset under the Council's name is being liquidated into the public blockchain right now."
"That's impossible!" Sterling roared, rising from his chair, his aristocratic composure shattering into hysterical fury. "Give me that!"
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"You taught this city that everything has a price, Sterling," Dominic said, his finger resting on the trigger of his gun. "Which means your guards have a price, too. Five million dollars each, already deposited into their blind offshore accounts, authorized by Dean's clearance code thirty seconds ago."
The lead guard looked at Sterling, then looked back at Dominic. Without a word of hesitation, the four guards pivoted their weapons, aiming their barrels squarely at the back of Chairman Sterling’s head.
