A prompt appeared on the screen, asking for an encryption key to unlock the master files.

A string of text began to scroll across the bottom of the screen.

It was a coded message, left specifically for anyone who found the system.

I knew that code. I had seen Kane’s men use it before.

It held the map to the underground municipal tunnels beneath the city.

Just then, the screen flickered.

The live camera feeds cut to black.

A single red line of text began to blink on the monitor.

The red letters blinked against the dark glass of the monitor.

*SYSTEM COMPROMISED. PURGE INITIATED.*

Dante did not flinch.

He knew how Kane’s network operated, because I had spent three years memorizing their failsafes.

“Luca, get the boy’s mother out of here,” Dante said, his voice cold and flat.

Luca was already on his satellite phone, barking orders to our family’s private medical team.

“They’re five minutes out, Boss,” Luca said, hanging up. “They have an armored transport disguised as an ambulance.”

Rachel Mercer let out another ragged breath, her fingers clawing weakly at the dirty mattress.