Chapter 10 - The Price of Survival
The private helicopter didn't lower a rescue basket. Instead, a megaphone boomed over the engine din: "Mr. Sterling! Throw the ledger drive to the roof corner! We can only take weight for two passengers!"
Mark whipped his head toward Sterling. The briefcase the developer had been clutching wasn't filled with papers; it held an encrypted hard drive—evidence of corporate negligence, forged safety inspections, and illicit demolition contracts that caused the fire in the first place.
Sterling stared at the helicopter, then down at the baby in his arms, and finally at Mark and Clara.
"They're not here for a rescue," Mark said, his voice deadly quiet as he stood up, towering over Sterling. "They're here to clean up the loose ends."
"I... I can get us all out," Sterling stammered, backing toward the edge. "If I give them the drive, they'll hoist the basket! They work for my board!"
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"They said two passengers, Sterling," Mark hissed, stepping between the developer and the helicopter's line of fire. "Who do you think gets left behind to burn?"
A sniper on the helicopter's skid raised a rifle, the red laser dot dancing across the gravel—and settling square on Mark’s chest.
