66. Jonah
Jonah
N obody speaks for about three full seconds.
Not because we don’t have questions.
Because every possible answer is bad.
Elizabeth curls tighter into herself in the chair that Cals brought over for her, trembling violently, while Vale keeps two fingers against her neck, tracking her pulse like he’s trying to physically force it lower.
Outside the room—
Automatic gunfire keeps hammering through the corridor.
Closer.
Much closer.
But right now?
The most dangerous thing in this compound is sitting inside a terrified woman barely able to breathe.
Cal glances toward the doorway again.
“We need to move.”
“We can’t move her,” Vale snaps.
Cal’s eyes narrow instantly.
“The hell we can’t.”
“You trigger her stress response any further and she dies.”
The room goes dead quiet again.
Cal checks the corridor quickly before slamming another mag into his rifle.
“We’ve got incoming from both sides now.”
“Wonderful,” Cal mutters.
I crouch beside Sienna again.
She hasn’t taken her eyes off Elizabeth once.
Not even blinking.
Like she’s terrified Elizabeth will disappear if she looks away.
“Sienna.”
Nothing.
I touch her arm gently.
Her gaze finally shifts toward me.
And Jesus Christ—
The rage in her eyes is terrifying.
“Kade built this,” she whispers. “Inside Oracle.”
I keep my voice low.
“Can you stop it?”
Her jaw tightens.
“I don’t know.”
That answer costs her something.
I can see it.
Because Sienna Knox is used to solving impossible things.
And this?
This one scares her.
Vale suddenly speaks.
“There may be a failsafe.”
Every head turns toward him instantly.
Cal lifts his rifle slightly.
“You’ve got five seconds before I decide you’re lying again.”
Vale ignores him.
Still focused on Elizabeth.
“Kade never trusted automated systems completely. He always built layered redundancies.”
“English,” Cal snaps.
Vale exhales once.
“There may be an external trigger frequency.”
My pulse sharpens immediately.
“You mean remote activation?”
“Yes.”
Sienna’s eyes narrow slightly.
Thinking now.
Fast.
Dangerously fast.
“If it’s signal-based…” she whispers.
I know that look.
She’s already halfway inside the system in her head.
Vale nods once.
“The tether may not actually be tied to distance.”
Hope flickers.
Tiny.
Fragile.
“It could be biometric escalation paired with signal confirmation,” Sienna says quickly now. “A dual-trigger safeguard.”
Cal blinks.
“I understood maybe three words of that.”
“It means,” Vale says carefully, “the device may need permission before it detonates.”
Sienna looks at him sharply.
“Exactly.”
Elizabeth suddenly gasps hard again.
Pain flashes across her face.
Vale checks her pulse immediately.
“Her heart rate’s climbing again.”
“Because she’s terrified!” I snap.
“No,” Vale says quietly.
Something in his tone freezes me.
Sienna hears it too.
“What?”
Vale slowly lifts his gaze.
“He already armed it.”
Ice slides down my spine.
“No…”
Vale nods grimly.
“The system is active now.”
The overhead lights flicker once.
Then again.
And suddenly—
Sienna moves.
Fast.
She lunges toward the terminal mounted beside the wall, fingers flying across the blood-streaked keyboard before anybody can stop her.
“What are you doing?” Cal demands.
“Kade likes theatrics,” she mutters. “Which means he’s watching.”
Lines of code race across the screen.
Fast enough I can’t track any of it.
But Sienna can.
Every piece.
Every layer.
Like she was born inside this nightmare.
Her breathing steadies.
Focus taking over.
Pure lethal intelligence.
“She’s in,” Vale says softly beside me.
No kidding.
Sienna’s fingers fly faster.
Then suddenly—
She freezes.
My stomach tightens immediately.
“What?”
Her face drains of color.
“No…”
Gunfire explodes outside the room again.
Cal fires back instantly through the doorway.
“Little busy in here!”
But I barely hear him.
Because Sienna slowly looks back at us.
Horror written all over her face.
“It’s not just Elizabeth.”
The room stills.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
Sienna swallows once.
Then whispers—
“There are seventeen active kill switches in this facility.”