Page 220 of Operation: Defiance

Ellen’s choked cry cuts straight through me.

The men move with practiced efficiency, unlocking the restraints from the chair and securing Ellen’s wrists behind her before dragging her out of the frame.

The woman scribbles something else on the clipboard.

Her partner sighs. “Downgrade the subject’s authority recognition and instruction adherence statuses. And shorten the recovery windows. She’ll be another compliance failure. The final correction has already been approved and scheduled for five p.m. tomorrow.”

My entire body is shaking now. But it’s not from shock or fear. No. This is pure, feral rage.

“We need to save that video,” I manage. “Play it again and record the screen.”

Asher taps the link, but all that comes up is an error message saying the file is unavailable. “Fuck. They deleted it.”

My eyes burn, and as I blink, I see Ellen shivering in the dark, her body forced into a position designed to inflict the maximum amount of pain.

“She’s sixty-four years old, Asher. Will she even survive another twenty-four hours?”

“I can call Inara and her team.” Asher shifts his chair so we’re almost facing. “I don’t know how many people that gets us—or what it costs—but we know where she is. They might be able to break her out.”

“And what if they can’t? What if they end up trapped there too?”

He doesn’t have an answer for me.

“I won’t let anyone else risk their lives, Asher. Not until I know we can take down GSD. We need Coherent Path’s Procedure Index. At least with that, I’d have proof of what they did to me. Video evidence would be even better. Without that…I’m an unstable, hysterical former agent no one will believe.”

Asher scrolls through his contacts until he comes to one listed only as Client 7. The call goes to voicemail with no outgoing message.

“If you don’t get me your Northbridge contact in the next six hours, all of your offshore accounts get leaked to the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

I count through one full breath. Four beats in. Hold. Six beats out. We’re so close. But close won’t save Ellen.

Proof will.