Chapter 13 - The Meeting at the Docks
The storm returned in full force as Claire drove her sports car through the gates of the estate, speeding toward the deserted industrial district near the city docks. Rain lashed against her windshield as she pulled into an abandoned warehouse, where Julian Vance’s sedan was already parked in the shadows.
Inside the warehouse, Julian stood under a single hanging light, his suit impeccably tailored despite the damp surroundings. Claire rushed up to him, throwing the learning tablet onto a wooden crate between them and screaming that Catherine’s daughter knew everything—that the child had the decryption key and was tracking their movements.
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Julian picked up the tablet, inspecting it with a cold, detached expression. He scolded Claire for her incompetence, pointing out that pushing the girl into the pool had drawn unnecessary police and medical attention to the household just as they were preparing to finalize the last transfer. He pulled a small hardware drive from his coat pocket, explaining that they needed to execute the final transfer tonight and frame Ethan for the entire operation before the child could speak to her father.
From the high rafters of the warehouse, a small motion-activated security camera—installed three years prior by Catherine Carrington as a contingency plan—silently recorded every word of their conversation, streaming the audio and video feed directly back to a secure cloud server connected to Ethan’s private laptop in his library.
