Chapter 11 - THE GHOST IN THE WOODS
The old woman brought Leo and Lily inside a hidden underground bunker beneath a dilapidated hunter's cabin.
The bunker was filled with old computer monitors, shortwave radios, and medical supplies.
Her name was Eleanor, a former investigative journalist who had gone into hiding ten years ago.
"Victor Sterling destroyed my career and killed my partner when I got too close to his financial fraud," Eleanor stated, handing both children thick wool blankets and hot soup.
"I've been monitoring his encrypted communications for a decade."
Lily sat shivering by a small wood stove, sipping the warm liquid.
"My uncle... did he make it out?" Lily asked quietly.
Eleanor checked her radio scanner, her brow furrowing deeply.
"My scanners picked up a body pulled from the river an hour ago by Sterling's men," Eleanor said softly.
Lily’s spoon fell to the floor, her eyes filling with instant tears.
"Is he... dead?" she sobbed.
"He's alive, but barely," Eleanor corrected. "They took him to Sterling's private medical research facility downtown."
"Victor is going to interrogate him to find out where the physical backup drive is located."
Leo looked up from his blanket, his face pale.
"There is no physical backup drive, is there?" Leo asked.
"No," Eleanor said, pointing to a flashing red light on her master server screen.
"The data isn't on a drive. The encryption key was planted inside you, Leo."
Leo jumped up from his stool in utter terror.
"Inside me?! What are you talking about?!"
Eleanor walked over to Leo and pulled out a small handheld scanner, passing it over his neck.
A high-pitched beep sounded from the machine.
"When you were brought into the hospital as an orphan six years ago, you were injected with a micro-transponder," Eleanor revealed.
"Your entire bloodline is connected to the original founders of Sterling Global."
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"You aren't a random street kid, Leo."
"You are Victor Sterling's nephew—the rightful heir to the entire fortune."
