They were already inside my accounts, watching every move we made.

Alexander stared at the small screen, his jaw tightening until a muscle leaped in his cheek.

“Pop the battery,” he said.

I pried the plastic back off the burner phone and tore the battery out.

The screen went black, but the chill in my chest remained.

“They have my IP,” I said. “They know the general area where we logged in.”

“Then we have less than twenty minutes before they check the medical facility,” Alexander said. “We go now.”

We ran through the rain toward the three-block radius where my sedan was parked.

The cold drops stung my face, mixing with the sweat on my forehead.

Alexander did not complain about the cheap fabric of his borrowed jacket or the water soaking through his shoes.

We reached the gray sedan, and I unlocked it with a click of the key fob.

We climbed inside, the smell of old upholstery and damp carpet rising around us.

The engine coughed, then turned over with a low, steady rumble.