t. The humming from inside the lab was the onl

not here," s

nly option. I pushed the door al

ue and green lights blinking in the dim room. Cables snaked across the floor like vines. Th

s wearing a gray hoodie, the hood pulled up. His fingers flew acro

't turn

ce shaking slightly as I stepped

ere was only the hum of the servers. Then,

bones, pale skin, and eyes that were an unnerving shade of gray. T

Bridges said, his voice flat and mechanical. "The int

g my worst fears so calmly, made my skin prickle. He hadn't been e

talker?" I asked, my

work," he said, gesturing to a screen filled wit

shattered phon

. But useless. He's already in yo

one. "I took screenshots ," she said, her

ers flew across the keyboard again. The code on his screens shifted an

lly. "It masks his IP address. It makes him

m?" I asked, my

eyes locked onto mine. "I can. But I don't wo

," I started, b

aze intense. "I want the puzzle. This guy is good. But he'

t care. He was offering me a way out.

I said. "

nstall this on your laptop and your new phone. It's a monitoring program. It will track any inco

It was cold in my

have something. Don't contact me. And don't tell anyone about this. Espe

he drive like a lifel

s we reached the door. "You can'

, her eyes confl

l take over. He'll make it a Gibbs family project, and I'll be rig

the silent figure of Ashton. Finally, she

y face, warming my cold skin. I took a deep breath of fresh air. For the first time

eavy, sealed door, the gray-eyed boy had turned his chair back to his main monitor. On it was a live feed from a tiny camera hidden

o the empty, humming room. "Y