Chapter 28 - Signal in the Fog
The city of Boston was waking up beneath a bruised, purple dawn as the truck screeched into the subterranean service bay of the Atlantic Tower. The 40-story glass monolith loomed above them, disappearing into the low-hanging Atlantic cloud cover.
Daniel didn't pull into the assigned executive space. He rammed the truck straight through the wooden security barricade of the loading dock, parking it behind a row of commercial linen bins.
He pulled the satellite phone from his pocket. The digital timer on the screen read *00:18:42*.
Eighteen minutes.
"Claire, take Noah to the primary electrical breaker in Sub-level 3," Daniel instructed, his voice dropping into the cold, calculated cadence of a soldier entering an ambush zone. "When the clock hits zero, Evelyn will attempt to initiate the terminal blood harvest. If you cut the building’s primary transformer, the backup generator takes seven seconds to kick in. That seven-second window is the only time the pod's magnetic locks will be deactivated."
"Daniel, you can't go up there alone," Claire begged, clutching his jacket. "She’ll have Mercer and his men. They’re private contractors. They don't care about the law—they’re paid through offshore trusts in the Caymans."
"I’m not going alone," Daniel said. He pulled the emergency flare gun from the truck’s marine survival kit and tucked it into his waistband, followed by a heavy, cold-steel crowbar from the bed of the truck. "I'm going as the man who signed their paychecks."
He turned to Noah. "Noah, look at me."
The boy looked up, his amber eyes bright with fear and courage.
"Stay with your mother. No matter what you hear over the building speakers, do not leave her side. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Dad."
"I love you, buddy."
"I love you too, Dad. Go get Emma."
Daniel turned and sprinted toward the freight elevator access doors. Using the brass key from Chapter 13, he overrode the digital call button. The heavy steel doors parted with a low, pneumatic hiss.
He stepped inside. As the elevator began its rapid, silent ascent toward the 40th floor, Daniel looked down at his watch.
*00:12:15.*
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Above him, through the elevator’s glass inspection panel, the skyline of the city fell away into the swirling gray mist. And then, the building’s internal intercom crackled to life with a sound that made his blood freeze solid.
It was the high, thin, frantic wailing of an infant.
