Silas pushed his glasses up. He smiled. "Yes, Sir. Marcus Thorne just entered the Sterling Tech building fifteen minutes ago. The power is still out in the city, but the building’s emergency generators are running. Marcus is currently in his ninetieth-floor office.""And Vera?" Ron asked. "She is in position," Silas answered, tapping a button on his keyboard. The main computer screen changed. It showed a live video feed from a tiny, hidden camera. The camera was moving slowly down a long, carpeted hallway. Vera was the Iron Legion’s master forger and con artist. She was an absolute genius at pretending to be other people. Before Ron went to prison, Vera used to rob fancy casinos by pretending to be a wealthy princess. Now, she was playing the most important role of her life. "Turn up the audio," Ron commanded. He leaned closer to the screen. He wanted to watch Marcus Thorne lose his final piece of hope. High above the city, on the ninetieth floor of Sterling Tech, Marcus Thorne

Marcus had just confessed, loudly and clearly, to stealing fifty million dollars. He had proudly shown the secret account numbers to the camera. He had admitted to washing the money through fake companies. And he had tried to bribe a federal agent. Millions of people were watching him do it live on television. "No... no... no!" Marcus screamed on the screen. He grabbed the black ledger and tried to rip the pages out. He tried to hide the numbers. But it was too late. The whole world had already seen them. "Smile for the camera, Marcus," Vera said loudly inside the office. Suddenly, the sounds of heavy boots echoed from the hallway. Thump. Thump. Thump. Real FBI agents, wearing heavy bulletproof vests, burst into the ninetieth-floor office. They had seen the live video feed from their command post downstairs. "FBI! Put your hands in the air!" the lead agent roared, aiming his gun directly at Marcus. "Get on the ground!"Marcus dropped the torn ledger. He fell to his knees in th

"Marcus did!" Theresa shouted eagerly. She wanted to save herself. She wanted to throw Marcus under the bus. "Marcus met the Police Chief in a parking garage five years ago! He gave him a bag of diamonds to plant the fake evidence in Ron Donaldo’s car! I can give you the exact date and time! I wrote it down in my private diary!"Marcus stared at Theresa. His mouth hung open in pure shock. "You kept a diary of my crimes? You stupid, crazy woman! That is evidence!""I kept it to protect myself from you!" Theresa snapped back. Marcus lost his mind. All the fear, all the anger, all the complete humiliation exploded inside his brain. He forgot he was in an FBI building. He forgot the cameras were rolling. He only saw the woman who was sending him to prison forever. "I will kill you!" Marcus roared with the fury of a madman. Marcus leaped out of his metal chair. He threw his entire body across the table. His handcuffed hands reached out and grabbed Theresa tightly around the throat. Th

The massive shockwave hit the heavy armored truck like a solid wall of moving air. Inside the back cab, Ron Donaldo was thrown violently against the metal wall. His injured left shoulder hit the hard steel, sending a blinding flash of pure agony through his body. He gritted his teeth, refusing to scream. Silas, the hacker, was thrown completely out of his leather chair, crashing onto the floor in a tangle of computer wires. In the driver’s seat, General Silas Vance fought the steering wheel like a wild beast. The massive truck was lifted onto two wheels. The strong wind from the explosion pushed the heavy vehicle sideways across the wet highway. The thick tires screamed as they skidded over the black asphalt. "Hold on!" General Vance roared over the deafening noise. The General pulled the heavy steering wheel hard to the left, slamming his foot down on the brakes. The truck crashed back down onto all four wheels with a bone-shaking THUD. It slid for another hundred feet before fin

Sitting in the corner, eating a small piece of stale bread, was Zero. The skinny, pale hacker looked up. His heavy mechanical goggles were resting on his forehead. "Zero," Ron commanded. "Bring me your backpack."Zero quickly dropped his bread. He grabbed his heavy, clinking metal backpack and ran over to Ron and Silas. He unzipped the bag. "Did you bring the silver hard drive from Sub-Level 4?" Ron asked. "Yes, Apex!" Zero squeaked proudly. He reached deep into the bag and pulled out the thick, heavy silver hard drive. "I pulled it right from the main console before we escaped the bomb."Ron took the hard drive. It was cool and heavy in his hand. This small block of metal held the last remaining secrets of The Director. "Plug it in, Silas," Ron ordered, handing the drive to the nervous hacker. "Let’s see what The Director was hiding."Silas took a deep breath. He took a thick black cable from his desk and plugged it into the silver hard drive. He connected the other end to his po