Chapter 4 - The Judge’s Chamber
The smell of cordite and copper filled the opulent chamber. Judge Harrison’s private computer was violently ripped from its housing, wires dangling like severed arteries.
""Eleanor tied up her loose ends,"" Lucas muttered, checking the judge's vitals out of grim habit. Cold. Dead instantly. ""She eliminated the legal authority before the trial could enter public record.""
Clara leaned heavily against the mahogany desk, clutching her ribs. ""She didn't just kill him to silence him. Harrison had the master decryptor key on his physical person. An encrypted biometric fob.""
Lucas immediately knelt beside the corpse. He checked the judge's pockets, finding only a wallet and a pristine set of gold pens. He grabbed Harrison’s left hand—the ring finger was missing, freshly severed at the base.
""She took the finger,"" Lucas spat, disgust hardening his jaw. ""She has the fob, the biometric print, and the hard drive. Where is she taking it?""
""The underground transit tunnel beneath the courthouse,"" Clara coughed, spitting a trace of dark blood onto the floor. ""It connects directly to the old municipal transit line. There’s a private extraction team waiting for her at the 4th Street depot.""
Footsteps pounded outside the shattered office door. The remaining mercenary was closing in, boots crunching on broken glass. Lucas pulled Clara behind the heavy steel gun safe in the corner of the office. He reached down, unholstering the dead judge's personal security revolver from a hidden drawer beneath the desk.
The mercenary breached the threshold, weapon raised, scanning the room through infrared goggles.
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Lucas didn't wait. He kicked the desk chair forward, throwing the gunman off balance, and fired two heavy .38 rounds through the side of the chair. The mercenary dropped, his tactical helmet skittering across the floor.
Lucas snatched the dead man's radio just as a voice crackled through the static: ""Package is in the tunnel. Sweep the building and burn it down. No witnesses.""
