Chapter 6 The Hacker Who Arrived Before the FBI
Chapter 6
The Hacker Who Arrived Before the FBI
Every monitor in the forensic laboratory turned black.
One by one.
Like dominoes falling in perfect sequence.
The technician slammed his hands across the keyboard.
"No..."
"No..."
"Come on!"
Red warning messages flashed across every screen.
REMOTE ACCESS DETECTED
FILES BEING ERASED
DO NOT SHUT DOWN SYSTEM
Detective Laura Bennett grabbed the edge of the desk.
"Disconnect the network!"
"We already did!"
The technician's voice cracked.
"They're not inside our network anymore."
"They're inside the workstation."
The room fell silent.
An FBI cybercrime specialist rushed through the door carrying a laptop.
"What happened?"
"They're deleting evidence."
The specialist connected his computer directly to the forensic workstation.
His fingers flew across the keyboard.
Lines of encrypted code streamed down the screen.
His expression darkened.
"This isn't ordinary malware."
"What is it?"
"A custom-built wipe program."
"Military-grade encryption."
He looked up.
"Whoever wrote this knew exactly where the files were stored."
Claire whispered,
"So they've done this before."
The specialist didn't answer.
He was too busy trying to stop the deletion.
A progress bar crawled steadily forward.
Evidence Deleted: 12%
"Can you stop it?"
"I don't know."
He typed another command.
Nothing happened.
The progress bar continued.
18%
21%
The room grew unbearably tense.
Eleanor watched helplessly.
Her father's final gift...
The truth he had died to protect...
Was disappearing before her eyes.
Then...
Something unexpected happened.
The deletion suddenly stopped.
Every screen froze.
The technician blinked.
"What?"
The FBI specialist frowned.
"I didn't stop it."
A new message slowly appeared on every monitor.
White letters against a black background.
DON'T TRUST ANYONE IN ROOM 4B.
Silence.
Detective Bennett looked around.
"This is Room 4B."
Another sentence appeared.
THEY HAVE AN INFORMANT INSIDE THE BUILDING.
The cyber specialist stared at the screen.
"This isn't the attacker."
"Someone just interrupted the attack."
The keyboard began typing by itself.
Letter after letter.
I SAVED 63% OF THE FILES.
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.
THEY ARE COMING.
The message disappeared.
The monitors instantly returned to normal.
The evidence technician checked the drive.
"Sixty-three percent..."
He looked stunned.
"It's true."
"Someone copied most of the files before the deletion finished."
Detective Bennett immediately ordered,
"Lock down the building."
"No one enters."
"No one leaves."
Two deputies hurried into the hallway.
The FBI cyber specialist remained motionless.
He replayed the incoming connection logs.
His eyes widened.
"This doesn't make sense."
"What?"
"The hacker who saved us..."
"...used the exact same encryption signature as the hacker who attacked us."
Everyone stared.
Claire frowned.
"Meaning?"
"They're using the same private security system."
Daniel spoke quietly.
"Someone inside The Circle."
The specialist nodded.
"Either that..."
"...or someone who used to work for them."
Before anyone could respond—
The building's fire alarm suddenly activated.
A deafening siren echoed through every hallway.
Bright red emergency lights began flashing overhead.
The evidence technician looked confused.
"No smoke."
"No fire."
Detective Bennett didn't hesitate.
"It's a diversion."
She grabbed the evidence bag containing the flash drive.
"Eleanor, with me."
The group hurried toward the secure evidence vault.
Halfway down the hallway...
They found two deputies lying unconscious on the floor.
Neither had been seriously injured.
Both had been struck from behind.
Their weapons remained untouched.
Only one thing was missing.
Their electronic access cards.
The FBI agent whispered,
"They're already inside."
Bennett drew her pistol.
"So do we."
The steel security door leading to the evidence vault stood partially open.
It should have been locked.
Instead...
It slowly creaked wider.
The hallway beyond was completely dark.
One emergency light blinked weakly.
The cyber specialist held up a hand.
"Wait."
He pointed toward the floor.
Tiny droplets.
Fresh.
Not blood.
Water.
A trail of wet footprints led into the vault.
Detective Bennett narrowed her eyes.
"Whoever entered came through the maintenance tunnel."
Daniel looked shocked.
"Only senior staff know about those tunnels."
Claire turned pale.
"My husband..."
She stopped.
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
Claire swallowed.
"Last year..."
"I overheard Richard talking on the phone."
"He said..."
"'If anything goes wrong, use the river entrance.'"
The detective immediately understood.
"The tunnel connects to the creek outside."
The FBI agent checked his watch.
"They're trying to steal what's left."
Bennett nodded once.
"Move."
Four armed officers entered first.
The vault was silent.
Rows of steel shelves stretched into the darkness.
Thousands of evidence boxes.
Hard drives.
Documents.
Weapons.
Everything appeared untouched.
Then one officer shouted.
"Movement!"
A black-clad figure sprinted between the storage aisles.
"Stop!"
The intruder ignored the command.
He vaulted over a shelf.
Another officer gave chase.
The figure reached the rear emergency exit.
He slammed a metal release bar.
The door burst open.
Cold night air rushed inside.
The suspect disappeared into the darkness.
One deputy fired a single shot.
The bullet struck the concrete wall.
The suspect never slowed.
Within seconds...
He was gone.
The officers searched the vault.
Nothing appeared missing.
Until the evidence technician reached the computer terminal.
He froze.
"Detective..."
She hurried over.
The screen displayed a single video file.
No filename.
No date.
No source.
Just one line.
PLAY ME BEFORE YOU TRUST THE FBI.
Every person in the room looked at one another.
Eleanor's heartbeat quickened.
Someone had risked everything to leave that message.
But the most terrifying question remained unanswered.
Who had left it...
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And why did they believe the FBI couldn't be trusted?
End of Chapter 6
