Elena’s mind was already racing, analyzing options, discarding approaches that wouldn’t work, searching for the vulnerability she’d missed. Webb had outsmarted her this time, but he’d also revealed something important—he had a kill switch, which meant he had a weakness. Every defense could be overcome if you understood how it worked.
“I need to study this countermeasure,” she said, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the laptop. “Figure out how it works and how to get around it. It’s going to take time.”
“Time we might not have,” Terrel pointed out. “If Webb accelerates his auction timeline?—”
“Then we’ll adapt.” Elena’s voice was steady, certain. “We’ve come too far to give up now.”
Reed’s hand settled on her shoulder, warm and reassuring, and she looked up to find him watching her with an expression of absolute faith. “Whatever you need,” he said quietly. “We’re with you.”
Elena covered his hand with her own, drawing strength from his touch. The mission had failed, but they hadn’t. They were still alive, still together, still fighting.
And as long as they had each other, Elena refused to believe that Webb had won.
One problem at a time,she told herself, turning back to the computer screen.You’ve survived worse than this.
The battle for WATCHDOG wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
CHAPTER 14
Reed woke before dawn, his internal clock refusing to let him sleep past 0500 no matter how exhausted his body was.
He lay in the darkness of his room for a long moment, staring at the ceiling and thinking about Elena. They’d worked on the code until well past two in the morning, hunched over her laptop in the kitchen while his brothers took turns keeping watch. Elena had analyzed the kill switch from every angle, muttering to herself as she traced the countermeasure’s logic through WATCHDOG’s architecture.
Reed had tried to help, but his expertise was in tactics and operations, not cybersecurity. After a few hours of feeling useless, he’d kissed her forehead and told her to get some rest when she was ready.
“Just a little longer,” she’d murmured, her eyes never leaving the screen. “I think I’m getting close to something.”
That had been three hours ago.
Reed pushed himself out of bed and pulled on a shirt, his bare feet silent on the cabin’s hardwood floor as he made his way toward Elena’s room. She needed rest—real rest, not the fitfuldozing she’d been doing between bursts of coding. If she was still at that laptop, he would physically carry her to bed.
The thought made him smile. Elena had always been stubborn about her work, driven to the point of self-destruction when she was chasing a solution. Some things hadn’t changed in five years.
He stopped outside her door and knocked softly. “Elena?”
No response.
Reed frowned and knocked again, louder this time. “Elena, it’s me. You need to get some sleep.”
Silence.
A cold feeling began to creep up his spine—the same instinct that had saved his life countless times in combat.
Something was wrong.
“Elena?” He tried the door handle and found it unlocked. The door swung open to reveal an empty room.
The bed was made, the sheets undisturbed. Elena’s laptop sat closed on the small desk, but her bag was gone. Her jacket was gone.
She wasgone.
“Elena!” Reed’s voice echoed through the cabin as he rushed into the hallway. “Elena!”
Doors opened. His brothers emerged, sleep-rumpled and confused.
“What’s going on?” Walker demanded, instantly alert despite having been asleep seconds ago.
“She’s not here.” Reed’s voice came out harsh, ragged. “Elena’s not in her room.”
