"Mia, it's me, I'm fine—"
"Vivienne Cole!" Mia's voice nearly shattered the phone. "You scared me to death! I saw the news about a vicious attack on Fifth Street and I thought... I thought..."
Her voice choked. I could hear she'd been genuinely terrified.
"I'm sorry, Mia," I said softly. "I worried you. I'm really okay, just some scrapes. Nikolai's people reacted fast. That car didn't get me."
"Thank God... thank God..." Mia exhaled long, voice still tearful. "Fuck, I've never been so scared in my life."
"I know, I know." I soothed. "I'm really sorry for dragging you into this—"
A faint electrical current suddenly crackled through the receiver, interrupting me.
I froze, thinking it was a signal issue. But the sound quickly disappeared, and Mia's voice came through clear again.
"Vivienne? You still there?"
"Yeah, maybe bad signal." I frowned, shifting position on the bed.
"Wait." Mia suddenly lowered her voice. "Vivienne, repeat what you just said."
"What?"
"Just say 'I know.'"
Confused, I complied. "I know?"
That faint electrical current appeared again.
This time I heard it clearly—not ordinary signal interference, but an extremely regular sound, like background noise from some device operating.
My heart sank hard.
"Mia..."
"Vivienne, listen to me." Mia's voice turned extremely serious. "My father used to deal in this kind of business. That sound... it's the signature of surveillance equipment. Someone tampered with your phone."
My fingers clenched tight. The phone nearly slipped from my hand.
"What?" My voice shook. "You're sure?"
"Ninety percent," Mia said. "Right now, open your phone settings. Look for anything strange. Especially things you never installed but have microphone and location permissions."
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stay calm.
"Hold on."
I opened settings, fingers sliding rapidly across the screen. Rows of app names flashed past—social media, writing tools, music players...
Then I saw it.
An app with an extremely ordinary icon called "System Optimization Assistant," sitting among a pile of unremarkable utilitysoftware.
I'd never seen this before.
I tapped to view details. My heart nearly stopped.
Permission: Microphone (Enabled)
