Chapter Three – The Flash Drive
1140 Words
By the next morning, I’d convinced myself the text had to be a prank. Maybe some bored IT tech had access to my number and wanted to scare the new assistant.
But deep down, I knew better.
Someone wanted me gone.
Lucian didn’t mention the archives incident again, but his mood had shifted. The casual charm he sometimes wielded had been replaced by cold scrutiny. Every time I walked into his office, his eyes followed me, sharp and questioning.
“Miss Reed,” he said once as I brought him his schedule. “You seem distracted.”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
He leaned back, studying me. “In this building, distraction can get you killed.”
I froze. It wasn’t the words themselves that frightened me it was the way he said them, like he’d seen it happen before.
He didn’t look up as he added, “Close the door behind you.”
I did, and for the next several minutes, I could hear only the ticking of the clock and the soft scratch of his pen against paper. When I finally walked out, my heartbeat was still hammering in my chest.
By noon, the air in the office felt heavy. Everyone moved quickly, quietly like soldiers who knew better than to draw attention.
I decided to take my lunch outside, if only to breathe something other than recycled air.
Halfway down the street, someone brushed past me hard enough to make me stumble. I turned, ready to snap, but the person was already gone just a blur disappearing into the crowd.
When I looked down, my fingers tightened around something small and cold.
A flash drive.
My breath caught.
It wasn’t the same one I’d lost; this one was silver, unmarked. But a folded scrap of paper was taped to it.
“For Lily.”
I ducked into a nearby café, my pulse spiking. I found a seat in the corner and opened my laptop, ignoring the tremor in my hands. The screen loaded slowly, the small icon blinking like a heartbeat.
The drive contained three folders.
PROJECT_LILY
CCTV_LOGS
REDACTED
I clicked the first.
Images filled the screen medical reports, brain scans, charts labeled Subject 07 – L.Clarke.
My throat tightened. Lily’s name. Her handwriting is on the side of one report.
She’d been part of an experimental program… something about neural mapping and emotional response conditioning.
A line at the bottom caught my eye:
“Funded by Voss Enterprises – Confidential under Directive 12.”
I felt cold all over. My sister hadn’t just worked for Voss. She’d been experimented on by him.
A shadow fell over the table.
“Coffee refill?”
I jumped. The waiter smiled apologetically, holding the pot. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
I nodded, forcing a smile. “Thanks.”
When I looked back, the drive’s folders were gone. My screen had gone black.
A moment later, a message appeared in the center:
“You’re being watched.”
The café suddenly felt smaller. Every person around me seemed suspicious the man with the newspaper, the woman typing furiously on her phone, even the barista watching from behind the counter.
I yanked the flash drive out and shoved it into my pocket. My laptop screen flickered, then returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
I packed up fast and left, my heart pounding in my ears.
Back at the office, I tried to act normal. Lucian wasn’t at his desk when I returned, thank God. I slipped into my chair, pretending to focus on my monitor.
A message popped up from the internal chat system.
L.Voss: My office. Now.
So much for breathing room.
When I stepped inside, he was standing by the window, looking down at the city.
“I saw you at Delano Café,” he said without turning around.
My heart skipped. “You what?”
He finally looked at me. “Next time you meet with someone outside company property, at least be discreet.”
“I wasn’t meeting anyone.”
He smirked faintly. “No? Then how did a data breach occur on your IP address exactly ten minutes after you opened your laptop there?”
“I what?”
He turned fully now, walking toward me. “I told you this company has enemies. You seem determined to act like one.”
“I swear I didn’t”
He stopped in front of me, close enough that I could feel the controlled heat radiating from him. “Then tell me the truth, Ava. Why did you really take this job?”
My mind raced. I couldn’t tell him the truth. Not yet. Not when I didn’t even know how much he knew about Lily.
“I needed the money,” I said quietly. “And I was offered the position.”
His jaw tightened. “Don’t lie to me again.”
He turned away, running a hand through his hair like a man fighting an invisible war. For a fleeting second, he looked… human. Tired.
“Get out,” he said finally, voice low. “And if I catch you digging again, you won’t just lose your job.”
That night, I didn’t go home. I couldn’t. I sat in my car a few blocks from the office, watching the lights in the building flicker on and off.
At midnight, Lucian’s office was still lit.
Curiosity clawed at me. Against every ounce of reason, I slipped out of my car and made my way to the side entrance. My ID still worked it shouldn’t have, but it did. Someone wanted me to get in.
The elevator was dark and silent. My reflection in the doors looked like someone else a woman on the edge of something she couldn’t undo.
When I reached his floor, I crept toward his office. The glass walls gave me a partial view inside.
Lucian stood over his desk, sleeves rolled up, his tie loosened. He looked nothing like the cold, untouchable CEO. He looked… haunted.
He was staring at a screen full of the same files I’d seen earlier. PROJECT_LILY.
My heart stopped.
He muttered something under his breath too quiet to catch. Then he pressed a key, and the files vanished.
Before I could move, his voice cut through the silence.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
I froze.
He didn’t look surprised. Didn’t even turn. He just sighed. “Lock the door.”
My pulse pounded. I hesitated, then did as he asked.
He turned slowly, his expression unreadable.
“Tell me,” he said softly, “how long have you known about Lily Clarke?”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
“Because,” he continued, taking a step closer, “I’ve been trying to find out who killed her too.”
- Writer
