*02:45.*

I looked down at Caleb, who was watching me with wide, terrified eyes.

“They have Lila,” I said.

“I didn’t know,” Caleb whispered. “They told me she was in the city.”

“Where are they keeping her?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I swear, Adrian, I don’t know.”

I stood up and approached the device, my hands trembling slightly.

I had to disarm it.

If the house collapsed, we would lose everything, including the clues to where they took her.

I reached for the pocket knife in my back pocket.

The blade clicked open, the silver metal catching the dim light.

I looked at the blue wire.

It was slightly thicker than the others, wrapped in electrical tape.

“If you cut the wrong one, it goes off instantly,” Caleb warned.

“Shut up,” I said.

I heard a voice call out from the main corridor.

“Clear the rooms!” a man shouted. “Find the target.”

They were close.

They were searching the cellar.

I held the blade against the blue wire, my breath catching in my throat.

The timer showed *02:15.*