Chapter 6 - The Midnight IntrusionAt 2:00 AM, the desert air outside the Mesa workshop turned biting cold. The industrial park was dead silent, save for the hum of distant highway traffic.

I was sitting in the dark control room above the shop floor, monitoring the perimeter cameras, when a black Cadillac Escalade rolled up to the security gate with its headlights killed.

Three men stepped out. Two were heavy-set muscular men in dark jackets—corporate enforcers. The third was Callan Harrington, wearing a hoodie pulled low over his face, holding a crowbar.

"They don't give up, do they?" Thomas whispered beside me, reaching for an iron pipe.

"Stay here, Dad," I said softly, touching his arm. "Don't lift a finger. Let the shop do the work."

Down below, Callan smashed the crowbar against the workshop's side entrance door lock. The metal yielded with a sharp CRACK. He stepped inside, flanked by his two thugs.

"Anastasia!" Callan yelled, his voice echoing off the corrugated walls. "I know you're in here! Hand over the original cloud drive and the sensor software, or we tear this dump down brick by brick!"

I reached for the custom control panel I had built when I was nineteen.

I pressed the red toggle switch marked Containment.

CLANG!

Heavy steel security shutters slammed down over every door and window in a fraction of a second, sealing the shop into a steel box. The lights cut out completely, plunging Callan and his men into pitch darkness.

A second later, industrial 120-decibel security strobes burst to life, flashing blinding white light, accompanied by deafening ear-piercing sirens designed to disorient intruders.

Over the intercom system, my voice boomed through the warehouse:

"Welcome to Vance Hardware, Callan. The Paradise Valley Police Department was notified the second your tires hit our driveway. You are currently trespassing on commercial property while under a temporary restraining order."

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On the night-vision monitors, I watched Callan stumble around in panic, dropping his crowbar, clutching his ears as his thugs desperately pounded against the reinforced steel doors.

The trap was sprung.