Chapter 10 - The Unseen Frequency
David hit the cold stone floor of the lighthouse foyer with a heavy, sickening thud, his breath exploding from his lungs in a ragged gasp. The Glock he had been reaching for skittered across the flagstones, coming to a halt near my boots.
I stepped forward instantly, kicking the weapon away into the shadows, and raised my own pistol, locking the barrel directly between David's eyes.
""Stay down! Don't even breathe!"" I screamed, my hands shaking with adrenaline.
Dana landed lightly on her feet beside him, her knuckles bruised and ready for a follow-up strike, but David was already gasping, his hands raised palms-up in a gesture of absolute surrender, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
""Clever... very clever,"" David wheezed, coughing weakly as he stared up at the vaulted ceiling. Your sister... always did have a flair for theatrical entries.
""Where is Ava's override code, David?"" I demanded, pressing the barrel a fraction of an inch closer to his forehead. Give me the code right now, or I swear I'll put a bullet through your skull and take my chances with the locator.
David let out a dry, hacking laugh, blood staining his teeth. You think... you think I'm the only node in this network, Chloe? Look at your phone.
My brow furrowed in confusion. What?
Look at your phone! he yelled, his voice suddenly shifting from mocking amusement to genuine, unhinged panic. The transmission didn't come from me. It came from Sterling's terminal. And it wasn't a countdown for Ava... it was a relay activation.
Before I could process his words, my coat pocket began to vibrate with a violent, rhythmic hum. I pulled the phone out. The screen wasn't showing David's satellite call anymore. Instead, an emergency broadcast alert was flashing in bright red text across the entire display: WARNING: SECURE FACILITY BREACHED. OMEGA PROTOCOL INITIATED.
""What is Omega Protocol?"" Dana asked sharply, stepping back and looking down at David with suspicion. Is this another one of your bluffing games?
David wasn't looking at us anymore. His eyes were wide, fixed on the narrow, high-arched gothic window overlooking the dark, churning waters of Lake Michigan.
In the distance, across the jagged shoreline where the coastal road ran toward the Canadian border, a sudden, brilliant flash of white light illuminated the horizon—not lightning, but a massive, silent explosion that turned the night sky the color of bruised steel.
""It's not a game,"" David whispered, the color draining completely from his face. Sterling didn't commit suicide. And the van carrying Ava... wasn't heading north.
My heart slammed against my ribs with the force of a sledgehammer. The breath left my lungs, turning the world into a spinning, soundless vacuum.
""Where is my daughter?"" I screamed, dropping my pistol to the floor, grabbing David by the collar of his tactical turtleneck, and dragging him half-upright against the stone wall. Where is she, David?!
David looked at me, his eyes empty of all tactical arrogance, filled with a sudden, haunting terror. She was never the target, Chloe. She was the bait to draw the agency out. And they just took her.
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Before I could scream, the heavy wooden doors of the lighthouse blew completely inward in a shower of splintered oak and white smoke, as a half-dozen heavily armed men in unmarked black tactical gear swarmed into the foyer, their automatic rifles raised and locked directly on us.
And right behind them, stepping through the ruined doorway with a cold, terrifying smile, was a woman I had never seen before in my life—wearing an executive trench coat and holding Ava's pink smartwatch in her bare hand.
