Chapter 11 - THE SERVER FLOOR
Smoke slid under the conference-room door.
Emily grabbed a chair and smashed the narrow side window beside it. Safety glass cracked into a white spiderweb.
"Again," Daniel shouted.
Alan hit it with a fire extinguisher. The pane broke inward.
They climbed through into a corridor already filling with smoke.
Hannah pointed toward the stairwell. "Server room is down one floor. Fire suppression should have activated."
Daniel covered Mara's mouth with his jacket and kept one arm around her.
They reached the server floor and found the suppression control panel ripped open.
A man in a dark suit ran through the smoke carrying a portable drive.
"Nate!"
For a second, the older man looked almost sad.
"You should have gone on your honeymoon."
Daniel moved toward him. "You cut the brake line."
Nate's eyes hardened. "Your father gave orders. I solved problems."
Daniel heard the confession as clearly as if Nate had shouted it into a microphone.
Her red recording light was still on.
Daniel met him halfway. They crashed into a rolling equipment cart. Nate struck Daniel across the jaw and grabbed for the camera.
Emily swung the fire extinguisher into Nate's forearm.
Nate shoved past Daniel and disappeared into the stairwell.
Hannah crawled under the cabinet and recovered the drive.
"If this is what I think it is, he didn't have time to wipe it."
A figure had appeared through the smoke behind her.
He grabbed Mara by the arm and dragged her toward the opposite stairwell.
"Dad!"
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"You want the truth? Come get it."
Then he pulled Mara through the fire door.
