Brenda took another step toward me, her shadow looming in the faint glow of my flashlight. Evelyn stood a little behind her, breathing heavily.
“Let me see that, Marcus,” Brenda demanded, extending a hand.
I ignored her. My eyes were fixed on a small, recessed panel on the wall next to the vault door. The red LED that had pulsed faintly before was now flashing. Rapidly. Insistently.
It was no longer just indicating a breach. It was signaling.
A 256-bit encrypted silent distress ping. Directly to Agent Harlan Kincaid. My exact GPS coordinates.
The realization hit me like a physical blow. Brenda had triggered it. By breaking that vault lock, she had inadvertently called down the very people Leo was trying to save me from.
The sirens, which had faded into the background, suddenly swelled. They were closer now. Many of them.
Through the reinforced window of the vault, I caught a glimpse of flashing blue and red lights reflecting off the adjacent skyscraper. Then, through a gap in the buildings, I saw them.
Black suburban SUVs. Three of them, at least. Pulling into the building driveway, fourteen floors below.
“What is that?” Evelyn stammered, pointing a trembling finger toward the window.
Brenda spun around, her face draining of color. She looked from the window to the flashing red light on the wall panel.
“No,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “No, this isn’t right.”
But it was. The system I’d put in place to protect my work, to signal ultimate distress, had been activated. And now Kincaid was here.
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