Chapter 2 - The Device in the WallsWithin thirty minutes, the Coleman estate became a fortress.
Security teams sealed every entrance.
The maintenance wing was locked down.
Nobody left.
In the basement command center, Nathan stood before a wall of surveillance monitors while Vance, his scarred and fiercely loyal head of security, examined the HVAC system.
Then Vance found something.
A tiny metallic cylinder had been secretly installed inside the boys' dedicated air supply.
A timer.
A micro-valve.
A chemical delivery mechanism.
Every four hours, it released a microscopic dose.
Not enough to kill the boys immediately.
Enough to keep them sick.
Enough to make doctors believe they were suffering from a mysterious neurological disease.
Nathan stared at the evidence.
His jaw tightened.
"Who installed it?"
"We're tracing that now."
Sarah studied the device.
"Dr. Ashford isn't working alone."
Nathan turned toward her.
"How do you know?"
"Because a doctor doesn't risk everything without believing someone powerful is protecting him."
Nathan's eyes darkened.
"Then we don't frighten him yet."
Sarah nodded.
"Exactly."
Nathan studied her differently now.
Not as an employee.
Not as a nanny.
As an equal.
Then Vance rushed back into the room.
"Boss."
Nathan turned.
"What?"
"Ashford just received an encrypted satellite message."
"From where?"
Vance's face went pale.
"Inside this house."
Silence.
May you like
Someone in the Coleman family home was working for the enemy.
And that person knew everything.
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