We sank onto the cold wooden floorboards.

My knees ached from the sprint through the brush.

I set the laptop on a low wooden trunk in front of us.

“Wade knows we’re here,” Sophia said, rubbing her wet hands together.

“He wants me dead,” I said. “Framing me for Dr. Vale’s murder gives him a green light to shoot on sight.”

“He has the whole county under his thumb,” she said.

She pulled a small USB drive from her pocket and plugged it into the side of the laptop.

The screen flared to life, casting a cold blue glow over her pale face.

Her dark hair was plastered to her forehead.

“This tool will bypass the secondary encryption on Emily’s final file,” she said, her fingers tapping the keys.

“How long will it take?” I asked.

“Ten minutes, maybe fifteen,” she said. “The encryption algorithm is military-grade.”

I looked around the small room as my eyes adjusted to the dim light of the monitor.

The cabin was sparsely furnished.

A single cot sat in the corner, stripped bare.