Page 127 of The Code of You

"But you just got here.”

A laugh escaped before I could stop it. "I know. I forgot about it,” I said quickly. "Doctor’s appointment. Gynecologist.”

"Ah.” Williams’s face went an unhealthy color.

I was already down the hall. They were going to find him. And they were going to kill him.

***

At home, I flipped open my laptop. My fingers flew across the keyboard as I opened the encrypted channels I’d used so many times before. I typed fast:

They know where you are. TikTok video. Specialists on their way. Get out. NOW.

I hit Enter. The message routed through three proxy servers, encrypted, untraceable. I leaned back, took my first real breath in hours. I’d done it. I’d warned him.

Then something strange happened. My screen flashed. For a fraction of a second, characters I didn’t recognize flickered across the screen.

My blood ran cold. No. No, no, no. Something had gone wrong. The encryption had never failed me before. I tried again and typed the code with shaking fingers.

Error 403 – Access denied

I stared at the error message. That couldn’t be right. This channel had always worked. Always. I tried another proxy.

Access denied

Access denied

Access denied

My hands were shaking so hard I could barely type. Every channel was blocked. Every connection cut. Sweat broke out on my forehead. My pulse hammered in my ears.

Dax. He would help me. Legion had resources, connections no one could trace. I jumped up, grabbed my jacket off the chair. I ran to the door, pulled it open, and stopped.

Two men in dark suits stood outside my apartment. Earpieces. Neat ties. Their hands rested loosely at their sides, but I saw the bulge under their jackets.

The taller one stepped forward. "Dr. Emma Rodriguez.” His voice was polite, but it sounded like a threat. "Please come with us.”

My heart stopped. I stepped back, tried to slam the door.

He put his foot in the gap. "That wouldn’t be a good idea, Dr. Rodriguez.”

They walked me to a black SUV with tinted windows. One opened the rear door. The other guided me in. The click of the central locking sounded like a verdict. We drove through the city, past familiar streets that suddenly looked foreign to me. No one spoke. The men stared straight ahead, their faces blank in the rearview mirror.

I didn’t recognize the building. Glass and steel, anonymous as a thousand other office towers. We drove into the underground garage and got out of the SUV. They led me to an elevator, their hands gripping my upper arms.

We went down. Minus one. Minus two. Minus three. The deeper we went, the heavier the pressure in my chest grew. How far underground were we?

The corridor was endless. White walls, fluorescent light, doors on both sides. At the end of the hall, they pushed me into a sterile room. A table, two chairs, nothing else.

"Sit down.”

I obeyed. My legs were shaking. The door closed. I was alone.

Minutes passed. Or hours. Without natural light or a clock, I lost all sense of time.

Then the door opened and Hale walked in. Same immaculate suit, same cold eyes. He let the door fall shut behind him. Before he sat, he adjusted the cuffs of his shirt carefully, like I was nothing but an interruption to his schedule.

"Dr. Rodriguez.” His voice sent a chill down my spine. "So it was you. The whole time.”