I inserted the cylinder into the manual port beneath the digital screen.

The terminal beeped twice.

The screen flashed red, then green.

“Bypass accepted,” a mechanical voice announced.

I tapped the screen, navigating to the estate lockdown protocols.

With three swift strokes, I activated the emergency isolation barriers.

Deep within the foundations of the house, heavy iron gears began to grind.

We felt the vibration through the soles of our shoes.

Steel shutters slid down over every window and door on the upper levels.

The entire estate was now an inescapable fortress.

I opened the tracking schematic on the terminal.

Dozens of small red dots represented Caleb’s mercenary team.

Most of them were scattered through the upper corridors and the subterranean tunnels.

But Caleb’s personal locator dot was moving toward the main courtyard.

He was trying to reach his armored SUV.

The courtyard was a wide, open space surrounded by high stone walls.

By triggering the lockdown, I had just sealed the massive iron gates of the courtyard.

Caleb was trapped inside it.

“He has no way out,” Marcus said, looking over my shoulder.