Chapter 16 - THE SERVER ROOM
By the time police arrived, smoke was already coming from a rear ventilation shaft.
Evan had started a fire.
“He’s destroying evidence,” Omar said.
Fire crews forced entry.
Police searched the building.
Then a side door burst open.
A man ran into the alley.
Evan.
Daniel recognized the way he moved before he saw his face.
Officers shouted.
Evan jumped a fence and disappeared behind a warehouse.
Ramirez chased him.
Gunshots did not follow.
Instead, five long minutes passed.
Then Ramirez returned alone, breathing hard.
“He had a car waiting.”
Daniel cursed.
Firefighters contained the damage.
Most backup servers survived because Omar had quietly mirrored critical files off-site after the first breach.
“You didn’t tell anyone?” Daniel asked.
Omar shrugged. “After Evan, I decided fewer people needed to know.”
For the first time in days, Daniel almost smiled.
The recovered logs showed Evan had accessed one final file before starting the fire.
A corporate aircraft reservation.
Hart Systems maintained a small plane for executive travel.
Departure time: 11:30 p.m.
Destination: Toronto.
Passenger: Daniel Hart.
“He’s using my identity,” Daniel said.
Police raced to the private airport.
They found the plane still on the ground.
No Evan.
The pilot had received a cancellation thirty minutes earlier.
Then Daniel’s phone rang from a blocked number.
He answered.
Evan’s voice came through, tired and furious.
“You always did love backup plans.”
Daniel looked at Ramirez and nodded for the trace.
“You tried to kill me.”
“I tried to remove a problem.”
“You used my daughter.”
“That was Melissa.”
“You built the machine.”
Evan exhaled slowly.
“Come alone if you want the last copy of everything.”
“Where?”
Evan gave an address.
May you like
Daniel recognized it.
Their old college apartment building.
