Page 110 of Behind the Shadows

It lodged itself in the back of my throat like a secret trying to claw its way out. He didn’t know I saw. And I didn’t say a word.

The ripple it left behind stretched through the room, tightening the air like a noose. Dope leaned back in his chair like the world hadn’t just shifted under our feet. Ella remained quiet, lost in whatever haunted her. And I sat frozen—body rigid, pulse skimming the surface of my skin.

That image wouldn’t let me go. The cage. The child. The tattoo that shouldn’t exist.

It made me want to scream, but instead, I swallowed it. Screaming never helped. I’d learned that long ago.

I pushed to my feet, walked toward the wall behind the office desk, and stared out the tiny window. The glow of streetlamps bent in the puddles, stretching like broken halos across the asphalt. It was nearly four in the morning, and the world was quiet—too quiet.

Behind me, Dope cracked his knuckles and pulled up another script. He was already moving on.

“There’s more,” he said. “Whatever P.P. left buried, I’m gonna find it.”

“Be careful what you wake.” Ella didn’t look up, but her voice was steady.

Dope snorted. “What, like he’s watching us from his villain lair? Don’t be dramatic.”

I didn’t respond. But my fingers twitched while I removed my phone from my jeans pocket.

Kip hadn’t texted. Not even a check-in. Not that I expected him to. Not after what he was doing. Where he’d gone. Who he’d gone to see.

Still … silence had a way of unraveling things in me. I sat again, just to feel the weight of the couch beneath me. Solid and real.

“Anything?” I asked.

Dope squinted at the screen. “A lot of encrypted crap. But this …” He clicked open a folder with no name. “… looks like a ghost drive. No metadata. No owner stamp.” He leaned forward. “Could be a live link.”

Ella looked up. “Meaning what?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled up a black terminal window. Empty. No files. Only a blinking cursor at the top. Waiting.

He leaned in. Typed a command. Nothing. Then?—

The cursor jumped, flickered, and letters began to form.

WHY ARE YOU STILL LOOKING

The words weren’t typed by Dope. They weren’t part of the code. They simply … appeared. One letter at a time. Like someone else was in the system.

“Uh—” Dope stiffened. “You guys seeing this?”

Ella shot to her feet.

I leaned forward. My throat burned.

Another line followed.

SOME DOORS SHOULD STAY CLOSED

Dope scrambled to disconnect the Wi-Fi, but the mouse froze on the screen.

“I’m locked out,” he muttered.

I SEE YOU

My blood turned to ice.

“Shut it down,” Ella snapped. “Now.”