Hold on, Sophia. We’re coming.
And when I found the people who’d created her without consent, who’d stolen DNA from two victims and combined it into a child they saw as property, I was going to make them regret ever hearing the names Evelyn Winslow and Gage Banks.
Ethan stood and moved down the aisle toward us. His face was set in hard lines, exhaustion etched deeply around his eyes.
“Got the facility layout memorized,” he said quietly, keeping his voice low. “Server room is in the basement level, northwest corner. If they’re keeping Sophia there, that’s where the surveillance feeds will be.”
Evelyn straightened, her hand still gripping mine. “Can we access it remotely?”
“Not from here. Too much encryption. We’ll need physical access.” His expression shifted, something harder sliding into place. “There’s another problem. Facility’s under lockdown protocol. They’re expecting us.”
My jaw tightened. “How many?”
“Security roster shows forty guards on site. Former military, most of them. And they’ve got automated defense systems. Motion sensors, pressure plates, the works.” He tapped his tablet. “Getting in is going to be ugly.”
“Getting out will be worse,” Rafe said from behind us. He was awake now, leaning forward in his seat. “They won’t let us walk out the front door with her.”
“Then we make our own door,” I said.
Ethan’s mouth twitched, not quite a smile. “Already planning on it. Found a maintenance tunnel that runs from the loading dock to the basement level. Built during construction, never properly sealed. If we can breach the outer wall, we’re in.”
“And if we can’t?” Evelyn asked.
“Then we go loud.” I met her eyes. “But we’re getting Sophia out. Whatever it takes.”
Flynn stirred, blinking awake. “Are we there yet?”
“Three more hours,” Rafe said.
Flynn groaned and rubbed his neck.
Lyric poked his side. “Told ya you’d regret sleeping like that.”
The moment of levity broke some of the tension, but not much. We all knew what waited at the end of this flight. A fortified facility, armed guards, and a little girl who had no idea her mother was coming.
“Get some rest,” I told Evelyn. “All of you. Last chance before things get real.”
Ethan returned to his seat. Flynn adjusted his position and closed his eyes again. Rafe settled back, his breathing evening out. Decker and Leo stayed motionless in the rear, still faking sleep or actually getting it.
Evelyn stayed pressed against my side, her hand still locked with mine.
“Trent?” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For telling me. About Gage.” She paused. “I know that wasn’t easy.”
“Nothing about this is easy.” I tightened my arm around her. “But you deserved to know.”
She nodded against my shoulder. “When we get her back, when this is over, I want to talk to him. Gage. I want to thank him for helping us. For keeping her safe.”
“He’d like that.”
We sat in silence as the plane carried us through the darkness toward Helsinki. Toward Sophia. Toward whatever hell Innovixus had prepared.
But they’d made one critical mistake. They’d taken the daughter of a woman who’d survived a cult and an abusive marriage. They’d taken the child of a man who’d been tortured and rebuilt and had escaped their program once already. They’dtaken a little girl who had an entire team of operators willing to burn the world down to get her back.
Innovixus thought they were ready for us.
