“He built the security architecture for the entire Sterling empire,” Alexander said.

He looked toward the window, where the fog was pressing thick and white against the glass.

“He’s the only one who could install a rootkit like this without triggering a system-wide alarm.”

“Why would Marcus spy on you?” I asked.

Alexander’s face went pale.

He zoomed in on a specific string of numbers on his phone screen.

“It’s not just spying,” he said. “It’s a continuous data stream.”

“What kind of data?”

“Audio, video, location tracking,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.

“And it’s not just this apartment, Emma.”

He looked up at me, his eyes dark with a sudden, horrible realization.

“The routing address for the data transfer is an external server,” he said.

“I’m tracing the destination.”

He tapped his screen, his fingers trembling slightly.

“It’s an encrypted relay based in Switzerland,” he said.

“But the secondary packet handshake is coming from a domestic IP.”

“Where?” I asked, leaning closer to him.

“A private residence in Connecticut,” he said.

The name didn’t need to be spoken.