Chapter 10 - THE UNKNOWN CALLER.
The evidence vanished from the screen.
A black background replaced it.
Maya stopped breathing.
Jasper leaped onto the console, ears turned forward as though he sensed someone approaching through the machine.
A classical piano melody began playing from the speakers.
It was the custom ringtone Maya’s father had used before he died.
An incoming video-call symbol flashed on the monitor. There was no number, name or profile—only an empty image pulsing with the haunting melody.
Arthur stared in horror.
“This is a closed-loop server. It has no connection to the internet or any external communications network. Receiving a call should be impossible.”
Maya’s hands began to tremble.
Either her father had constructed a deeply hidden protocol that had waited for the biometric lock to open, or someone else understood the system perfectly.
Someone had been waiting for her.
She extended her fingers toward the glowing accept button.
The money, revenge and sight of Vivian being dragged away suddenly felt insignificant.
Maya pressed the button.
The call connected with a sharp click.
A distorted mechanical voice filled the concrete chamber.
“Vivian was only the distraction, Maya. Look at camera feed four.”
The monitor divided into several sections.
One displayed a live feed from a dark underground bunker.
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In the center of the room sat a man staring directly into the camera.
He looked exactly like Maya’s dead father.
