move, analyzing his actions through the new, terrifying lens of the truth. When he said he w

I fo

tch, sweat pouring down my face, but the image of him with the satellite phone pushed me forward. The j

al sites, now repurposed for survival. A broken twig here, a footprint in the soft earth there. He was moving

I almost turned back, defeated, but then I saw it. A faint, perfectly straight seam in the moss,

I pushed, and a section of the rock wall

caught in

th smooth, metallic panels and recessed lighting. It was a shor

one of the screens, a live satellite feed showed a weather map of the region. On another, a grid of small windows displayed security camera footag

a. He wasn't just my c

I dove behind a stack of supply crates just as Jax'

voice, clear as a

rtwatch is completely

gave her was a dummy, identical in every way, but with a faulty emergency transmitter. It was designed to fail after

ust ignored, it was sabotaged from the beginning. They hadn' t just abandoned m

ad after being missing for this long, Dad will have no choice but to sign the inheritance t

m. They weren't just trying to steal my inher

is voice softer now, with an edge of somethin

rittany's tone becam

st make sure it's clean. No traces. T

e betrayal. He wasn't some nameless wild man. He was Jason Col

ht I was a helpless pawn in their game. But I wasn't. I was an architect. I built

l depression was forming a few hundred miles offshore. The forecast models s

computer science electives. I knew about data manipulation, about how small input changes

Jax-Jason-was still talking to Brittany, their vo

st model. It was a complex system, but the principles were simple. I started subtly altering the atmospheric pressure

ital illusion. I was

howed the tropical depression rapidly intensifying into a hurricane. A m

but if a rescue agency or even a civilian vessel saw a hurricane warning for an island with a known, active-though now silent-emergency

ker, my heart hammering against my ribs. I pulled the ro

ng. I had created a phantom hurricane. Now, I just