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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Knight

The outside of the building looks the same as every other abandoned and run down storage facility in the area. Windows thick with dirt, broken bottles and litter on the floor. It’s the kind of place where people don’t come unless they’re up to no good, and they don’t ask questions if they see anyone else there.

I complete two circuits of the perimeter, keeping my pace casual, and my eyes sharp. Everything looks the way it should. No unfamiliar vehicles nearby. No one is watching. No signs of life.

But the surveillance warning hidden in Victor’s code logs keeps circling in my mind. It could mean two very different things. Either Victor himself has been watching my properties, examining every security flaw, and every blind spot, or he’s warning me that someone else has.

Knowing him, it could even be both. A ‘ look how sloppy you’ve become’ lesson wrapped inside a genuine warning.

Before I unlock the door to go back inside, I check for any signs that the mechanism has been tampered with. There’s nothing obvious, but that doesn’t mean much. These days, the best surveillance equipment leaves absolutely no trace. But the inside is just how I left it, other than the fact Glitch has moved from where she was sitting earlier.

She’s standing just out of view of the window now, looking outside. The blank expression on her face suggests she’s not seeing anything though, she’s lost inside her own head with whatever thoughts are occupying her. My laptop screen has moved to the screensaver. Nothing more than a single ball bouncing around over and over.

She blinks and looks over when the door clicks shut. Her eyes track me when I cross to the laptop, but she doesn’t move from her position, and she doesn’t speak. I sit down, and dive back into the logs.

Getting some air, and a short break helps my focus, and new details catch my eye. There’s something I’m missing, something about the observation point data that doesn’t quite add up. And then I see it. There are coordinates that don’t match any of my known properties. I lean closer to the screen, expanding the warning data, delving deeper into the complexities of the language Victor developed to converse with me during my tenure as his student. He’s purposely added code to ensure these warnings exist in the logs. That means it’s important.

Pulling open the drawer beneath the desk, I take out a notepad and pencil, noting down the coordinates, then striking off any that link back to me. It leaves six … six unknown locations. I pull up a map and input the data, and slowly a new pattern forms.

The observation points form a circle around Horizon Tech. Coffee shops. The subway station. Two apartment buildings.

I glance at Glitch.

“Where do you live?”

“Why?”

“Your address. Now.”

Her lips part at my snapped command, but she gives me the address.

Fuck. It matches one of the coordinates.

“Your brother’s address?”

She gives me that, and as expected that links to another coordinate.

Fucking fuck.

Whoever is really behind this virus, and I’m almost positive that this isn’t just a game of Victor’s now, they weren’t just watching my properties. They were watching Michael as well. For months before he disappeared.

“What did you find?” Glitch’s voice breaks my focus, and I look up as she comes closer.

“They were watching your brother. Not just at work, but everywhere he went. They also had eyes on your apartment.”

Seconds tick by while she processes the information. When she speaks, her voice is steady. “Who? Why? I thought you said it was your mentor.”

“I’m beginning to think Victor’s role isn’t the primary one in whatever this is.” I drag a hand through my hair. “If I’m right, then it means your brother’s disappearance wasn’t random. They chose him for a reason.”

She’s close enough that her presence is affecting my ability to focus on the screen. “The same reason they chose me to walk into your apartment?”

“Maybe.” I scroll through more data, trying to ignore how the room feels smaller with each passing minute. “Or maybe you were just in the right position to be useful.”

“Useful.” She makes the word sound like an insult. “Because I was alone. Because I had no one to question why I was talking to strangers online at three in the morning.”

I should say something. Figure out a way to respond that doesn’t make this worse. But there’s nothing I can say that will undo weeks of manipulation. Nothing that will erase how completely they used her trust against her.

Against both of us.

My eyes land on the burner phone sitting just behind the laptop. Its presence reminds me that I need to let Bishop and Rook know what’s going on. They’ll have heard about my apartment by now. They’ve probably already tried to contact me, and if I don’t respond to them soon, they’ll start looking into things, which means they could walk into whatever this game is.

But then something in the logs catches my attention. A sequence I’ve seen before, but not ever in surveillance data.

“Fucking hell.”

“What?”

I expand the sequence, enlarge it, double-checking that I’m reading it right. “These aren’t just surveillance logs. They’re test runs.”

Glitch leans closer, even though she can’t possibly understand what she’s looking at.

“Test runs for what?”

“For taking someone.” My hand slams down onto the tabletop, making her jump. “They weren’t just watching your brother’s routine. They were testing different scenarios. Different approaches. Working out exactly how to make someone disappear without leaving evidence.”

When she finally speaks, her voice carries an edge I haven't heard before. "They used my brother as a practice run for someone else?"

"Yes and no." I study another sequence. "Victor has hidden three concepts in here, but the way he’s written the third … that one was successful. I think they were looking for ways to specifically take your brother."

"Why?"

"That's the real question, isn't it?" I lean back, mind racing through possibilities. "What does your brother know to make him worth kidnapping? And where does Victor come into it? Why would he go to all the trouble of targeting my systems with a virus, and then leaving me messages in the logs about what it means?"

Because that's what this is —these logs are one long letter to me from my mentor, showing me exploits, weaknesses, and all the ways the virus has been built to infiltrate my systems. But why? Is he threatening me … or is he reaching out for my help?

I need to focus and figure out what Victor is really telling me. I also need to warn my brothers about what they might be walking into.

Instead, I'm achingly aware of Glitch’s proximity, of how her presence affects my ability to think clearly.

Victor would see this as another weakness to exploit. Maybe he already has. Because all the surveillance logs are showing that the virus wasn’t just about gathering intel. It’s also about finding vulnerabilities.

And right now, I'm looking at mine.