Chapter 15: Ghosts of the Past
Inside the mansion, the muffled strains of classical music echoed faintly through the high ceilings.
Rebecca moved like a ghost through the familiar corridors, her bare feet making no sound against the thick Persian runners. Every painting, every piece of antique furniture reminded her of a life she used to have—a life built on lies and deception.
She reached the heavy mahogany doors of Julian's private study. The door was pulled slightly ajar, casting a thin sliver of warm light across the hallway floor.
Rebecca held her breath, pressing her back against the wall, peering cautiously into the room. Empty. The desk was clear, glowing under a green banker's lamp, and the large oil painting of her grandfather hung securely on the wood-paneled wall directly ahead.
Stepping swiftly into the room, she rushed to the portrait and swung it open on its brass hinges. There, embedded in the reinforced concrete wall, sat the heavy digital keypad safe.
Her fingers trembling slightly, Rebecca punched in her mother's birthday combination: 0-8-1-4-8-5.
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BEEP. The heavy steel door clicked and swung open.
Inside sat the black master decryption drive, resting neatly beside stacks of emergency cash and passport documents. Rebecca snatched the drive triumphantly, pulling the Trojan Horse USB out of her pocket and plugging it directly into the backup port inside the safe to initiate the download.
