KANE

The boardroom was no longer a temple of commerce; it had become an arena of raw, jagged exposure. The air was thick with the copper tang of adrenaline and the stifling silence of a dozen people holding their collective breath. Zane stood frozen at the podium, his fingers still clawing at the empty air where the flash drive had been a moment ago. He looked like a man who had stepped off a cliff and was only just realizing there was no ground beneath him.

Aria didn't falter. She stood in ...