Every few seconds, I paused to listen for footsteps in the corridor.

The hospital was quiet at three in the morning, save for the distant hum of an industrial floor buffer.

I finished the payload.

If I could physical connect to any ethernet port inside the Apex tower, this script would mirror the entire surveillance feed.

It wouldn’t just send the video to me.

It would route the feeds directly to the secure server of the federal prosecutors who had been building a case against Apex.

I had the IP address of Assistant US Attorney Vance’s secure drop-box memorized.

I typed the destination address into the final line of code.

Then I saved the file to a micro-SD card and popped it into my pocket.

Next, I opened the draft email on the burner phone.

I sent the message to Ethan’s private, encrypted address.

*I have the ledger. We meet at the Apex tower. The 40th floor. Tomorrow night at midnight. Bring Liam.*

I hit send.

The delivery confirmation ticked green.

I knew he would come.