Chapter 10 - Going Public
The predawn air was biting cold as we pulled the sedan off the gravel backroad and into the sprawling industrial park on the outskirts of the city. Downtown was still waking up, streetlamps flickering yellow against the gray veil of morning mist. Julian kept his eyes fixed on the windshield, his fingers drumming a restless rhythm against the steering wheel while the laptop hummed on the passenger seat between us.
"The media desk at the *City Herald* opens at six," Julian said, his voice flat and concentrated. "If we drop the unencrypted registry files and Arthur Pendelton's audio log directly onto their secure server, it bypasses the corporate firewall before legal can slap an injunction on it."
"And the moment it hits the wire," I added, looking out the frosted window at the looming brick facade of the newspaper annex, "the hospital board and your father's firm are going to know exactly who provided the leak."
"They already know," Julian replied quietly, shifting the car into park. He turned to look at me, the dim dashboard light catching the serious, unyielding set of his mouth. "Which is why we aren't waiting around to watch the broadcast. Once this goes live, we become the most hunted targets in the state."
I reached down, my fingers brushing against the familiar cardboard box sitting on the floorboards—the same box I had been clutching when Julian's luxury cars had boxed me in on the street. It felt like a lifetime ago. I took a deep breath, reached over, and hit the final upload key on the laptop. A small progress bar flashed green on the screen, indicating the data transfer was complete.
May you like
"It's sent," I said, my voice steadying.
Julian nodded once, killing the engine. Without another word, we stepped out into the freezing morning air, abandoning the vehicle by the curb. We walked briskly toward the subway entrance half a block away, blending seamlessly into the early rush of commuters. Behind us, deep within the city's communication grid, a digital bomb was about to detonate, destroying the protective shield of wealth and power that had kept the hospital's dark secrets buried for years.
