Angels Mark (The Serena Wilcox Dystopian Trilogy Book 1)

Angels Mark Chapter 18

18

While Bryce’s trap was ensnaring Clyde, and General Gustavo as collateral damage, Bryce was dutifully playing for the other side. He slipped into President John Williams’ private office areas without raising any suspicion whatsoever, which was as he expected. The tricky part would be to access and copy his uncle’s files without his fingerprints setting off any alarms. He hoped the Angel Mark worked. He couldn’t care less about helping Ann; he did care immensely about being caught helping her. He had every reason to have a healthy fear of how far John would go if he knew that Bryce was selling him out. He feared John much more than he feared prison, but he preferred to avoid both. If this Angels Mark technology worked, he would extract the files with no one the wiser.

He held his breath as the download indicator bar filled. The transfer speed was the best there was, and Bryce was soon out of his misery. No alarms. Nothing. He had done it! He worked his way through every folder, including those that were hidden. He himself had organized most of these, so he knew where the secret files were. At this point, he was all in and wanted as much incriminating evidence as possible to get protection for himself from John. He figured the only chance he had was if they branded John as not only a traitor, but the world’s most wanted terrorist. If they got all of John’s people too, Bryce had a fighting chance of hiding away somewhere and starting a new life. He copied everything he could find, even files he didn’t think were important.

Just as he finished copying the files, Bryce’s heart stopped beating. President John Williams, his revered and feared uncle, was standing in the entrance to his private office area. “Hey, Brycer! What are you doing in here?”

A practiced liar after years of picking up girls and lying to his parents about his whereabouts, it was natural for Bryce to concoct a plausible story on the spot. “I was hoping to check my e-mail. The battery on my phone is dead.”

“What’s wrong with your office?” John asked. Not suspicious, not judging, just a simple question an uncle might ask his nephew.

“I’m avoiding Caroline,” he said, which was partially true, actually. He had slept with Caroline a few times, and now she expected a ring. That was never going to happen, especially now.

John chuckled. “Understood.”

Bryce smiled full wattage, a ladies’ man just like his uncle, the good old boys’ club, partners, on the same team. “You have a full plate today. How are you going to fix this thing with Kinji?”

“Oh don’t worry about that, I have my people on it. By this time tomorrow, she won’t be a problem,” said John ominously.

Bryce shuddered inwardly. Better her than me, he thought. Relieved that he had gotten away with betraying his uncle in plain sight, Bryce slipped down the corridor and left the White House for a restaurant well known as a spot for politicians to gather. No one would think twice about Bryce being there, or seeing him meet up casually with someone from Kinji’s staff, placing his flash drive into the palm of Breyana’s pretty little hand.

Back at the White House, President Ann Kinji waited anxiously for Breyana to return. She had no fewer than seven secret service agents with her, so surely Breyana would be safe. However, after hearing the disturbing news about General Gustavo and Clyde, she had every reason to worry. She feared that Bryce was laying down another trap, but then again, she banked on Bryce wanting to save himself.

She wondered if John even knew yet that things had gone wrong. Was Gustavo instructed to merely hold them, not kill them? Obviously John wouldn’t have thought that the general would get killed. When Ann had spoken to Bryce, Bryce had the attitude of someone who had finished a mission, cocky, relaxed. She didn’t think that he knew that Gustavo was dead. And if not, how could that be? Wouldn’t John be expecting Gustavo to report in regularly? Either John didn’t know what happened, or he didn’t trust Bryce anymore. The first scenario worked well in their favor, the second one was chilling.