Chapter 4 - RAVEN PROTOCOL
A young analyst’s face appeared on the tablet.
“Director Miller?”
“Not director anymore,” Arthur said.
“Your credentials say otherwise.”
“Stop the deletion.”
The analyst’s fingers moved across an unseen keyboard. Numbers flashed on the screen.
“Forty-two seconds.”
Mara leaned closer. “What is Raven?”
“A recovery network built for compromised intelligence systems,” Arthur said. “I designed the first version.”
Lily stared at him. “Dad… what did you do before Mom died?”
Arthur did not answer.
On-screen, the analyst said, “Remote server is bouncing through Zurich, Manila, and the Cayman Islands. Deletion at sixty-eight percent.”
“Mirror the fragments.”
“Trying.”
Richard began shouting outside. Two local deputies had arrived, and he was demanding Arthur’s arrest.
The police chief pointed toward the medical unit. “That man broke into my jurisdiction.”
Mara stepped outside and closed the door behind her.
Arthur kept his eyes on the countdown.
“Ten seconds,” the analyst said.
A red warning filled the screen.
Then it vanished.
“Mirror secured,” she said. “Not all of it. But enough.”
“What did you recover?”
“Financial records. Surveillance clips. Sealed court documents. And a folder labeled E.M.”
Arthur’s hand tightened around the tablet.
Elena Miller.
His wife.
“Open it.”
The first document was a photograph of Elena leaving a federal courthouse two weeks before the car crash that killed her.
The second was a payment ledger.
Whitmore Holdings had transferred two million dollars to a shell company three days before Elena’s death.
Lily covered her mouth. “Dad…”
Arthur felt the room tilt, but his voice stayed even.
“Who owned the shell company?”
The analyst opened another file.
A name appeared.
Chief Daniel Mercer.
The same police chief standing outside.
The door burst open.
Mercer entered with his weapon drawn.
“Everyone step away from the device,” he said.
Lily froze.
Arthur slowly stood.
Mara was nowhere behind him.
Mercer’s hand shook. “I said move.”
Arthur studied the distance between them, the angle of the weapon, the reflection in the medical cabinet.
Then he saw Margaret Whitmore outside the window.
She was not frightened.
She was smiling.
May you like
Mercer raised the gun toward Lily.
“Give me the tablet,” he said, “or your daughter dies before the ambulance doors open.”
