Chapter 7 - The Man on the Run
Riker had one destination.
Switzerland.
A private banking conference was being held there.
He planned to sell everything he had stolen.
Patents.
Data.
Trade secrets.
And one final piece of information.
The identity of a whistleblower inside the original company.
Clarina and Christian flew overnight.
On the private jet, Clarina sat beside the window.
Christian sat across from her.
"You can sleep."
"I don't trust airplanes."
"You trust cars."
"Cars don't fall from the sky."
He smiled.
"Fair."
She laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh he had heard from her.
The moment was brief.
Then Christian's phone rang.
The hospital.
Toby's condition had improved.
The doctors believed he could continue treatment.
Clarina closed her eyes.
"That's good."
Christian smiled.
"It is."
She looked at him.
"Thank you."
"I didn't do anything."
"You did."
They landed in Zurich.
Riker's trail led to a conference hotel.
But he had already left.
Clarina examined the room.
A briefcase sat on the desk.
Empty.
Then she noticed a tiny mark on the mirror.
A symbol.
She recognized it from the old engineering team.
A private signal used by technicians during testing.
She followed the clues to an underground parking facility.
There, Riker was waiting.
He looked older.
His hair had turned gray.
But his arrogance remained.
"Clarina."
She stared at him.
"You destroyed my life."
"I destroyed a threat."
"You framed me."
"You were going to expose everything."
"So you lied."
"I survived."
Christian stepped forward.
Riker smiled.
"You think you're better?"
Christian replied, "No."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because she deserves the truth."
Riker laughed.
"The truth is never enough."
Clarina stepped toward him.
"What did you steal?"
"Everything."
He handed her a device.
"Your research."
She stared at it.
"Why give this to me?"
"Because I'm not staying."
Suddenly, headlights appeared.
Riker had planned an escape.
Security personnel moved in.
A chase began.
Christian and Clarina ran after him.
They reached the road.
Riker disappeared into traffic.
Clarina looked at the device.
It contained something far more important than stolen research.
A complete backup of the original Valkyrie telemetry.
Unedited.
Unaltered.
Proof.
They returned to the United States with the evidence.
The case exploded publicly.
The automotive industry reacted.
Experts reviewed the data.
The original failure had not been Clarina's fault.
The warning she had issued had been real.
The modifications had been deliberate.
Her name was cleared.
But Clarina didn't celebrate.
She went back to the Starlight Diner.
She walked into the same booth.
The same coffee.
The same cracked sign.
Everything looked smaller.
Christian entered.
"You came back."
"I had to."
"Why?"
She looked around.
"This place saved me."
"How?"
"It gave me somewhere to disappear."
Christian sat opposite her.
"You don't have to disappear anymore."
Clarina looked at him.
"I know."
"What do you want now?"
She thought about it.
"To build something."
"With who?"
She smiled.
"Maybe someone who finally learned to listen."
Christian smiled.
"I can do that."
She raised an eyebrow.
"We'll see."
Outside, a black SUV stopped.
Riker was not inside.
A lawyer exited.
He carried a document.
Riker had surrendered through counsel.
He wanted a deal.
In exchange for testimony, he would reveal every person involved.
Clarina read the letter.
Then she closed it.
"Do you want revenge?" Christian asked.
She looked at him.
"I wanted justice."
"And now?"
"Now I want my life back."
Christian reached across the table.
May you like
She hesitated.
Then took his hand.
