Chapter 55 - Bloodlines and Betrayal
While crossing toward the southern bank of the lake, David’s encrypted comm-pad received an emergency alert from the United States Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.
It was an intercepted prison transcript flagged by David’s legal watchdog algorithm.
Three hours prior, David’s former brother-in-law, Bradley—currently serving a fifteen-year federal sentence for cyber-harassment, destruction of critical medical equipment, and conspiracy—had been transferred to solitary confinement after an attempted poisoning in the prison cafeteria.
David listened to the audio recording of Bradley’s panicked confession to federal investigators:
*"You don't understand!"* Bradley was screaming, his voice cracked with raw terror. *"The video wasn't our idea! The TikTok prank, smashing the kid's machine—we got an anonymous wire transfer of fifty thousand dollars in crypto! The message said: smash the unit on camera, make it look like an arrogant social media trend, destroy the circuit boards, and don't let David recover the micro-filtration filters! We thought it was just easy money and easy views! We didn't know who they were! Now someone slipped cyanide into my oatmeal! Get me into witness protection! Please!"*
David paused the recording. A cold, furious disgust settled in his veins.
His ex-family had destroyed his daughter's lifeline for pocket change and internet validation, completely blind to the fact that they were functioning as disposable pawns for a multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical cartel. They had destroyed Veta’s lungs, laughed in her face on live streaming platforms, and gloated while she gasped for air—all for thirty pieces of silver thrown to them by Richard Sterling.
"Dad?" Veta asked, seeing the grim fury etched into his face. "Was that Uncle Bradley?"
"Yes," David said quietly, closing the file. "He’s finally realizing that when you sell your soul to monsters, you don't get to keep the money."
"Do you hate them?" she asked softly.
David looked at the horizon, where the first faint glimmer of dawn began to paint the Swiss Alps in hues of rose and steel. "I don't have room in my heart to hate them, Veta. Hatred is a luxury for people who have nothing to protect. My only job is keeping you alive, honoring your mother, and ensuring that no child ever suffers the way you did."
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Karl brought the boat against a secluded private dock near Alpnachstad. "We have ground transport waiting. Elena had an old secondary testing bunker built into an abandoned Swiss military artillery fortress inside Pilatus. We can stage our operation there."
***
