Chapter 5 - Shadows in the Green Room
Nora rushed up the stage steps, throwing her arms around her daughter, shielding her from the flashing press cameras and the swarming security guards.
"Clear the stage!" Victor yelled, his voice cracking as his security team moved in to block the press. "Gala is over! Escort everyone to the lobby!"
Within ten minutes, Nora and Chloe were sequestered inside the private backstage green room.
The heavy mahogany door was guarded on the outside by Victor's private security contractors. Inside, the atmosphere was suffocating.
"Chloe, what did you do?" Nora wept softly, kneeling before her daughter, clutching her shoulders. "Do you have any idea what Victor is capable of? He destroyed your father! He burned our home!"
"Mom, look at me," Chloe said gently, her voice carrying an uncanny, mature calm. She reached into the secret hem of her cotton dress and pulled out a miniature metallic USB flash drive, no larger than a coin. "Dad gave me this before he got into the car that night. He told me: 'If I don't come home, wait until Victor reveals the symphony to the world. Then bring down the curtain.'"
Before Nora could answer, the door clicked open.
It wasn't Victor.
It was Maestro Julian Vance, accompanied by two armed Special Agents in dark suits carrying federal badges.
"Nora Cole?" the lead agent said, stepping inside and locking the door behind him. "I am Special Agent Robert Vance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Intellectual Property and Major Crimes Unit. And this is United States Federal Prosecutor Evelyn Reed."
Nora stood up defensively, pulling Chloe behind her.
"You don't need to be afraid, Mrs. Cole," Evelyn Reed said softly, showing her Department of Justice credentials. "We have had an open sealed indictment against Blackwood Music for three years regarding corporate sabotage and racketeering. What your daughter did tonight just gave us the legal jurisdiction to seize the master recordings."
May you like
Chloe stepped forward and handed the small silver drive to Agent Vance.
"Everything is here," Chloe said. "The original date-stamped MIDI stems from November 2019. The digital audio workstation logs. And the dashcam recording from my dad's car before the brakes failed."
