“Four minutes, Emily,” Marcus said.

“He is bluffing,” Adrian said, his voice quiet and steady.

I looked from the countdown on the screen to Adrian’s calm grey eyes.

“How do you know?” I whispered, my voice shaking.

“Because my security team swept the entire building twenty minutes ago,” Adrian said.

He turned his phone screen toward me.

A live security feed showed the server room door, guarded by two armed men in tactical gear.

“The server room is secure, Marcus,” Adrian said directly into my microphone.

Marcus’s expression stiffened for a fraction of a second.

Then he let out a harsh, wet laugh that ended in a cough.

“You think those guards can stop a signal?” Marcus asked.

“The device is hardwired into your main power intake, Romano.”

“If my guy presses this button, the surge will fry every drive you own, backup or not.”

I looked down at my hand, which was still hovering over the mouse.

The cursor was positioned directly over the red button labeled *Execute Global Freeze*.

“Emily, don’t do it,” Marcus warned, his voice rising in pitch.