SHADOWS BENEATH THE FLAME (completed)

Buried in Code

📘 Chapter 5: Buried in Code

The USB drive was scratched but intact. Small. Innocent-looking.

But Lena could feel the weight of it like it was a grenade waiting to detonate.

Jay inserted it into the old laptop he’d pulled from a duffel bag — no internet, no wireless, completely isolated. He was taking no risks.

“Your father encrypted everything,” he murmured. “Triple-layered. Military-grade. It’ll take time.”

“What kind of files are on it?” she asked.

Jay’s fingers paused over the keyboard. “Names. Contracts. Locations. Some of these files... they might point to people Halver has silenced. Others they’ve paid.”

“And they’ll kill to keep it hidden.”

“Yes.”

A loading bar is inched across the screen. Lena sat beside him, knees drawn up to her chest.

“Did he tell you what he was working on?” she asked.

Jay shook his head. “Not everything. But he was close to exposing a project they abandoned years ago. Something illegal. Off-the-books medical trials. They left bodies behind, Lena.”

She felt her stomach twist. “He was going to publish it?”

“He was going to give it to a journalist,” Jay said. “Someone he trusted. But he waited too long. And they got to him first.”

The bar hit 100%.

Files unfolded like a digital confession.

Dozens of folders. Hundreds of documents.

And one video file labelled only: "If you’re seeing this."

Lena reached for the mouse, hand trembling.

“Wait,” Jay said gently. “You sure?”

She nodded.

The video opened.

Her father’s face filled the screen. Older, tired, but steady.

“If you’re seeing this,” he said, “then I didn’t make it.”

Lena’s breath caught in her throat.

“I need you to finish what I started,” he continued. “You can’t trust anyone. Not even the ones who say they love you. If Jay’s with you… then he’s made his choice. I hope he made the right one.”

The screen went black.

Lena didn’t speak.

Jay didn’t move.

Only the hum of the laptop filled the silence.

And in that silence, something changed.

Because now, it wasn’t just about survival.

It was about justice.