Chapter 19

Are You Safe? Sage

The second i stepped into the safe house, I knew I didn’t have time to test. My muscles ached, my shoulder was still bleeding sluggishly from earlier, and my brain was rumming on fumes but this wasn’t over. Not even close. I had gear to replenish, wounds to tend, weapons to clean, and one stubborn Irishman to keep alive. The lock clicked behind me. I moved on autopilot, reloading, stashing weapons, restocking hidden compartments. My fingers itched to check in on Conner. I flicked open my laptop, bypassing my layers of encryption and routing through dead nodes to reach the security feeds I’d hijacked. He’d done exactly what I’d expected. Good boy. Extra guards. Bigger weapons. Altered supply runs. Inner-circle access only. He was taking this seriously and for a man like hon, that meant a hell of a lot. But that also meant he was a bigger target now. Power draws fire. I scanned the perimeter footage. Four new guards posted on retation, extra surveillance drones, motion sensor laser grids on the east and south flanks. Not bad. Not bad at all. But if I could get through them? Se could someone else. I didn’t hesitate. I pulled out my burner, patched it through the most secure line I had.

He answered on the second ring. “Ghost?”

“Tell Nice to accept the link I’m sending.” I said, already tapping in the backdoor code. “I’m doubling your firewalls. Your system has holes. Not many, but enough.”

There was silence for a moment, then a rustle, the sound of movement.

“Is it that bad?” His voice was low, serious now. “You think they’ll come here?”

They already want to,” I said. “I just don’t plan on letting them.”