“Look at this,” he murmured.

On the screen, a log of the security override was scrolling in green text.

My eyes scanned the lines of code, looking for anything I could understand.

A specific alphanumeric string at the top of the log caught my attention.

It was a custom authorization protocol: *SYS_MED_99X*.

My breath hitched in my throat.

I knew that exact sequence of characters.

It wasn’t a standard security code for a high-rise office building.

It was the specific data encryption protocol used by the private medical network where I had my prenatal exams years ago.

The same network that had mysteriously lost all my records when I fled Chicago.

“Damon,” I said, my voice trembling.

Before I could point at the screen, the main monitor flickered.

The static cleared, replaced by a live camera feed from the hallway directly outside our steel door.

A shadow moved across the lens of the security camera.

Then, the digital keypad on our side of the wall began to beep.

Someone was entering the override code from the outside.