"Where the fuck are you?" Logan's voice filled the car, tense and urgent.
"On my way back," I replied, checking the time. "Twenty minutes, tops. What's happening?"
"We need to talk. Not over the phone."
"Is it Cade? Is she okay?" Panic clawed at my throat.
"She's fine. She's with Cole. Just get here. Fast." The call disconnected, leaving me alone with the rumble of the engine and the growing sense that whatever awaited me at Covenant House was going to shatter the fragile peace we'd been building. I pressed down on the accelerator again, watching the dark landscape blur past my windows. Twenty minutes. I could hold myself together for twenty more minutes. And then I would face whatever new nightmare had found us.
Amonth had passed since we discovered that the videos were being publicly distributed, and we had been working nonstop to have them taken down. The circles under my eyes had become permanent fixtures. I stared at the multiple screens in our office, watching Ryder hunched over the main computer, his face lit by the harsh blue glow as he spoke rapidly withTravis on the video call. Papers, empty coffee cups, and take-out containers littered every surface, physical evidence of our obsession.
"We've traced the latest upload to a server in Estonia," Ryder was saying, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep. "But it's another dead end. The bastard's bouncing the signal through at least seven different proxies."
Travis, Sebastian Lynch's tech genius, nodded on screen. His own appearance mirrored ours, dishevelled hair, tired eyes, the look of someone who hadn't seen daylight in too long.
"I've written a new algorithm to flag similar content before it fully uploads," Travis replied, typing furiously as he spoke. "But he's getting smarter. Changing small details in the videos, adding filters, splicing them differently to avoid detection."
I leaned against the bookcase, watching Ryder's shoulders tense with each word. For a month, this had been our existence: a desperate game of digital whack-a-mole. Every time we managed to take down one of the videos of Cade's torture, three more appeared. The thought of strangers watching her pain, her violation, her most vulnerable moments, made my stomach turn. We'd all agreed she could never know.
"He's toying with us," Ryder said, running a hand through his already dishevelled hair. "This is exactly what the sick fuck wants. Us chasing our tails while he sits back and laughs."
"Or plans his next move," I added quietly.
Ryder's head snapped up, noticing me for the first time. The dark circles under his eyes matched my own, but there was something else there too, a manic energy that worried me. He'd been pushing himself to the brink, fuelled by guilt and rage.
"Cole," he acknowledged with a nod. "Any word from Logan?"
"Still with his father's security team. They're pursuing that lead in Leeds." Ryder snorted, turning back to the screen.
"Another fucking wild goose chase."
"We have to cover all bases," I reminded him, stepping further into the room. "If Damien's still in the country-"
"He is," Ryder cut in, his voice hard with certainty. "He's not running. He's watching us. Watching her." The thought sent a chill down my spine. I'd had the same suspicion, but hearing it spoken aloud made it more real, more terrifying.
"I still think we should be looking closer to home," Ryder continued, addressing both me and Travis. "This level of coordination, the resources he'd need to stay hidden and keep uploading these videos, he's not working alone."
"Your father?" I asked quietly. Ryder's jaw clenched.
“Wouldn't put it past the sadistic prick, especially after our little chat last month. The bastard even had the balls to ‘remind’ me that it was family dinner night this week. I told him to shove his family dinner up his fucking ass.” Travis cleared his throat awkwardly on screen.
"I should mention, the upload patterns suggest multiple people might be involved. The timing, the different server locations, it's too coordinated for one person."
"Great," Ryder muttered. "So now we're looking for Damien and his mystery accomplices."
I checked my watch, feeling the weight of another responsibility pressing down on me. "Ryder, it's almost time. We need to get upstairs." He blinked at me, momentarily confused before realisation dawned. "Shit. Cade's first day back."
"I'll keep working on this," Travis assured us. "If anything changes, I'll call immediately." Ryder nodded, already standing and gathering his notes.
"Focus on that IP cluster in Malaga. And see if you can get anything more from those metadata fragments we found yesterday."
"Will do. And Ryder?" Travis hesitated. "Tell Cade good luck from me. She's stronger than she knows." A ghost of a smile touched Ryder's lips.
"I will."
As the call ended, Ryder turned to me, exhaustion evident in every line of his face.
"You really think she's ready for this?" I shrugged, wishing I felt more certain.
