Each beep feels like a detonation.When I enter the last digit, the lock buzzes.
Click.
The door unseals with a hiss and cracks open.
I shove it wide.
Cool, recycled air hits my face.Inside, the hum is constant, alive, a soft electric heartbeat in the dark.
My pulse spikes, chest pounding as I step in slowly, eyes adjusting.
Stacks of towers line the back wall.Rows of monitors flicker to life as I cross the threshold.Feeds, windows, command lines, maybe a dozen active systems, all still running.
He left it all.
Relief hits me like a drug.
Then comes the drop.
If Jag orchestrated his and Dove’s disappearance, none of this would still be here.He would’ve wiped it, burned it, or taken it with him.
But he didn’t.He left it running.Which means this wasn’t part of the plan.
If he intended to run, he never got the chance.
I edge farther inside Jag’s computer lair, squeezing between racks of servers and stepping over thick, veiny cables.The blinking lights and hum of processors vibrate with the power of an electronic brain.
The amount of tech in here?It’s way beyond me.
I know enough to boot up a system and browse the Internet.This is something else.Black computer boxes stack two and three high, flashing with multicolor LEDs.I don’t touch a damn thing.
Instead, I scan the monitors.
Most of them are live camera feeds of familiar streets and buildings.Every screen tracks a different piece of Sitka, following a clear path from the harbor to the mechanic shop.
One feed locks on the front door of the garage, a different angle than the busted camera Taaq had installed.That one died the day Dove disappeared.But this one is hidden.
The video is clear, streaming in full res and showing the mechanic shop open again.
Taaq is there, face pinched and hands busy under the hood of a car.Chester moves across the frame with a coil of hoses over one shoulder.
No Dove.
If she were there, she’d be everywhere.
I drag a chair in front of the screen and sit down hard.My hands shake, so I ball them into fists on my lap.
This camera shouldn’t exist.Not from this angle.Not from that wall.Not even Taaq knows it’s there.
“Is this video stream saving somewhere?”I point at the screen.“How do we see the footage of the day she disappeared?”
Theo and Ross push in, eyes wide as they take in Jag’s systems.
“Jesus.”Theo whistles under his breath.“This is a fortress.Looks like he built a government-grade network out of spare parts and paranoia.”
Ross makes a beeline to the nearest tower, slipping on gloves as he surveys the setup.
Monty and Carl step back, letting the techs take over.I stay planted in front of the monitor, eyes fixed on that front-door feed as if she’ll appear.
