Page 52 of Once Vanished

Each word targeted the exact center of Bill’s insecurities.The fear that he wasn’t enough.That he would fail Riley when she needed him most.That he was, at his core, fundamentally broken.

“I can hear it in your breathing, you know,” Leo said, his voice softer now, almost intimate.“That edge of desperation.That fraying of control.I recognize it because I’ve studied it.”

The emotional death spiral that had been threatening Bill since Susan’s murder pulled him down again.He had failed to protect Jilly.Failed to catch Leo.Failed to save Susan Martinez.And now he was failing again, paralyzed by his own demons while a monster toyed with him.

“What do you want to do now, Bill?”Leo asked the question gently, almost kind.“What move will you make next?”

Something inside Bill snapped then.The rational part of his mind screamed in warning, but it was drowned out by a surge of raw, desperate need to end this, to find Jilly, to stop Leo no matter the cost.

“Where can we meet?”Bill asked.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Van Roff hunched over his keyboard, the glow of three monitors casting pale light on his features.The clock on his bottom monitor read 1:07 am.“Come on, you ghostly bastard,” he muttered.“Take the bait.”

Navigating labyrinthine forums where elite hackers exchanged whispers and secrets, he’d just posted a casual mention of an upcoming FBI cybercrime symposium where ShadowCipher’s methods would be analyzed.The forum itself was an exclusive haunt, accessible only through a series of proxies and authentication protocols beyond the skills of most federal IT specialists.Its interface was deliberately archaic—black background, green text, no images or formatting.Old school.Secure.The digital equivalent of a speakeasy with no sign on the door and a complicated knock to gain entry.

Around him, Van’s apartment was just shapes and shadows beyond the sanctum of his workstation.The empty energy drink cans formed a small army along the edge of his desk.He’d been hunting through dark corners of the internet for nearly seven hours straight, on top of yesterday’s marathon session.His eyes burned, but he couldn’t stop now.Not when Riley’s kid was out there somewhere, in the hands of that psycho Dillard.

Van reached for his last remaining energy drink, the carbonation hissing as he cracked it open.The caffeine would keep him going another hour, maybe two.

The notification sound was subtle—a soft ping that might have been mistaken for ambient noise—but Van’s head snapped up instantly.There, in the thread he’d been monitoring, a new response had appeared beneath his post:

QuantumGhost: ‘Well!’thought Alice to herself, ‘after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs!’

The Lewis Carroll reference—ShadowCipher’s calling card!This was the second time QuantumGhost had responded with an Alice in Wonderland quote.

Van had found the one he’d been hunting.Or rather, ShadowCipher had allowed themselves to be found.The response had to be perfect—casual enough not to spook his quarry, intriguing enough to keep them engaged.He typed, deleted, typed again, finally settling on:

VoltageVariant: Interesting perspective.I’ve been falling down this particular rabbit hole for weeks.Sometimes I wonder if anyone else understands the depth of it.

The use of “rabbit hole” was deliberate—another Carroll reference, subtle acknowledgment of the game they were playing.Van held his breath, waiting.These exchanges were delicate.On the dark web, trust was a currency more precious than bitcoin, and he was a known FBI agent venturing into hostile territory.

A minute passed.Two.Four.Van resisted the urge to add another comment, knowing that patience was crucial now.

Finally, the response appeared:

QuantumGhost: And what exactly are you hoping to find at the bottom of this particular hole, federal man?

Van’s pulse quickened.Direct acknowledgment that QuantumGhost knew who he was.Things might start getting trickier.

VoltageVariant: Answers.Connections.

Another wait.Shorter this time.

QuantumGhost: Why would I—or anyone else—be interested in your little quest for answers and connections?

Van thought fast and hard about what his next tack should be.

VoltageVariant: I’d like to carry on this conversation in private.

QuantumGhost: Right.I’ll open a DM channel.

A moment later, Van Roff received an invitation to his interlocutor’s direct message channel and joined in.

QuantumGhost: Okay, then.What gives, federal man?

The opening Van had been waiting for.He moved rapidly now, committed to the path.