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Wolf Dad Energy

Page 14

by Kala Aster, Milly Taiden

Molly doesn't move.

"Rhett."

"I need the logs."

She sighs.

"Fine."

She hands me the tablet. The report appears. Time stamps. Equipment readings. Personnel locations. Everything normal. Except it isn't. I scroll back. The thermal camera data shows a spike in temperature near the east wing. Then a gap. Not a malfunction. A gap. Three minutes missing.

"That isn't possible."

Molly looks over my shoulder.

"What?"

"The footage."

She leans closer.

The digital record jumps from 21:14:07 to 21:17:12. No error message. No corruption warning. Just missing information.

"Could someone have deleted it?"

"Not from inside the system."

"How do you know?"

"Because I built the system."

Molly is quiet. That is why I respect her. She doesn't fill silence just because it exists. She lets people come to conclusions on their own.

My phone vibrates again. This time it is dispatch. I answer.

"Rhett."

"Chief?"

"Go ahead."

"We've got another flagged report."

I glance at Molly.

"What kind?"

A pause. Longer than necessary.

"Missing person."

My expression changes.

"Where?"

"Sleepy Hollow."

Something cold moves through me. Not fear. Recognition. Except I have no reason to recognize it.