While falling through the air toward the courtyard, Hannah had instinctively shielded her torso to protect the small metallic case hidden inside her heavy blazer. She had known that visiting Arthur and Victoria at the mansion was extremely dangerous, so she had taken extreme precautions before ever setting foot on the property. The tablet computer she had carried into the house was merely a distraction to draw their attention away from her real plan.
Her private investigator had managed to retrieve the original encrypted server logs directly from the family bank's secure mainframe three nights ago. Those digital files contained unmistakable proof that Victoria had transferred tens of millions of dollars out of the trust fund hours before Richard Vance passed away. The entire criminal history of their greed was saved onto a tiny, military-grade micro flash drive that sat safely in her pocket.
Hannah: Really?
Hannah uttered the word out loud, her mouth curling into a sinister, triumphant smile against the hard surface of the stone patio. She rolled slowly onto her side, ignoring the sharp pain shooting up her spine as she reached deep into her jacket. Her hand emerged from the fabric, clutching the tiny silver memory card high above her head into the direct rays of the Texas sun.
Victoria: What is she doing down there? Is she still moving?
Arthur: Wait... what is that in her hand?
Arthur gasped loudly, leaning dangerously far over the balcony railing as his face instantly turned pale under the bright afternoon light. Victoria gripped the stone rail so tightly that her knuckles turned stark white, her ruthless smirk completely evaporating into total shock and terror. They both realized in a single terrifying second that the shattered phone on the ground was not the primary storage device at all.
Hannah: Every document, every wire transfer, and every single video recording of dad's final days is right here on this drive!
Arthur: Grab her! Victoria, call the guards right now!
Hannah: It's too late, Arthur! The cloud upload completed the second I stepped onto your patio!
Hannah lifted herself up onto one elbow, staring back up at the balcony with eyes full of burning fire and righteous anger that made Arthur stumble backward in horror.