Adrian smiled.
“You taught me well.”
Evelyn approached the screen until her reflection almost touched his face.
“What are you trying to accomplish?”
“You’ll understand soon.”
“People could die.”
“People already died.”
“That doesn’t justify more.”
“No. But perhaps it creates attention.”
Then Adrian looked past the camera.
Someone spoke to him.
He nodded.
Lila caught it.
“You’re not alone,” she said.
Adrian looked back.
For the first time, his expression changed.
He studied her.
“You notice details.”
“My mother says it’s an annoying habit.”
“Your mother once had the same habit.”
Evelyn stepped between Lila and the monitor.
“Leave her out of this.”
“You brought her.”
“You sent the message.”
“And she came because she trusts you.”
Adrian’s voice lost its amusement.
“That’s the part you should be afraid of.”
The feed vanished.
Immediately, alarms erupted.
A technician shouted.
“False beacon!”
“Where?”
“South channel.”
Another voice.
“Two vessels just changed course.”
Evelyn turned into a commander again.
“Transmit voice warnings on every open maritime frequency. Ignore digital navigation. Use visual markers and radar only.”
“Commander, the storm is reducing radar reliability.”
“Then put helicopters up.”
“Lightning risk.”
“I know the risk.”
She turned toward Lila.
“You’re leaving.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Sergeant Rusk.”
Rusk straightened.
“Take my daughter to the north administration building.”
Lila shook her head.
“He used me to get into this hangar.”
“Exactly.”
“So I might know something.”
“You know enough to be a target.”
“I saw the maintenance worker.”
Evelyn stopped.
“What?”
“When I came through the side entrance.”
Everyone turned toward Lila.
“There was a man by the loading tunnel.”
“Describe him.”
“Gray jacket. Cap. Toolbox.”
“Face?”
“Not clearly.”
“What did he do?”
“Nothing.”
“Lila.”
She tried to remember.
Rain.
The gate.
The man walking toward her.
Then—
“He asked if I was lost.”
Evelyn’s expression hardened.
“What did you say?”
“I said I was meeting my mother.”
“Anything else?”
“He asked which hangar.”
Rusk swore.
Lila glared at him.
“I didn’t tell him.”
“Then how did he know?”
“I don’t know.”
She replayed the moment.
The maintenance worker had smiled.
Stepped aside.
Brushed against her.
Her eyes widened.
“My jacket.”
“What?”
“He bumped into me.”
Evelyn immediately examined Lila’s jacket.
Nothing.
Collar.
Sleeves.
Pockets.
Then Rusk pointed.
“Inside seam.”
A tiny black disk had been clipped beneath the fabric.
The technician removed it.
“Passive tracker.”
Lila felt sick.
“He tagged me.”
Evelyn stared at the device.
“No.”
“What?”
“He didn’t need to track you.”
“Then what is it?”
The technician held the disk beneath a scanner.
His face changed.
“Commander.”
“What?”
“This isn’t only a tracker.”
He looked toward the command vehicle.
“It’s broadcasting an authentication handshake.”
Evelyn understood first.
“He used Lila as the key.”
The technician nodded.
“When she approached the vehicle, this device communicated with its security system. That’s why code 4071 worked.”
Lila stared at the tiny disk.
“I opened the truck for him.”
“No,” Evelyn said.
“I did.”
“You opened it because he engineered you to.”
“And then while Rusk was arresting me—”
Everyone turned toward the empty compartment.
The theft hadn’t happened before Lila arrived.
It happened during the chaos.
Rusk looked devastated.
“He used me as the distraction.”
Evelyn pointed toward security control.
“Get every camera from the last ten minutes.”
A technician worked furiously.
Images flashed across the monitors.
Hangar corridor.
Loading area.
Vehicle lane.
Maintenance tunnel.
Then Lila saw him.
“There!”
A figure in gray crossed behind the gathering crowd while Rusk had Lila pinned against the vehicle.
He walked calmly to the rear door.
Lila’s tracking device had already unlocked the security network.
He opened the vehicle.
Took the Helix module.
Closed the door.
Walked away.
Twenty seconds.
Nobody noticed.
Rusk stared at the footage.
“I was standing three meters away.”
“That was the point,” Evelyn said.
Another technician shouted.
“Movement near Pier Twelve!”
The harbor map appeared.
A small service vessel had departed the restricted dock.
“No authorization,” the technician said.
Evelyn looked at the storm outside.
“Adrian.”
Rusk grabbed a radio.
“Harbor patrol can intercept.”
“No.”
He looked at Evelyn.
“No?”
“If Pike wants us chasing that boat, the module isn’t on it.”
Lila looked at the map.
Something bothered her.
Adrian’s video.
The concrete structure.