Marcus drove exactly at the speed limit.Every instinct screamed to go faster. To race through red lights. To get Torres to the hospital as quickly as possible.But speed drew attention. Drew police. Drew complications they couldn't afford.So he drove normally. Steadily. Like just another vehicle on Chicago streets at midnight. Nothing to see.In the back seat, Sarah was monitoring Torres. Checking his pulse. His breathing. His temperature. Doing everything she could with what she had.Which wasn't much. Wasn't nearly enough."How is he?" Marcus asked. Eyes on the road but attention split."Bad. Getting worse. Pulse is one-forty. Breathing is labored. Temperature feels like it's still climbing." Sarah's voice was controlled. Professional. But Marcus heard the strain underneath. "We're running out of time."Marcus pressed slightly harder on the accelerator. Not much. Just enough to shave a minute off the drive. Just enough to matter.The hospital appeared ahead. Northwestern Memorial.

11:47 AM.Thirteen minutes until noon. Thirteen minutes until the meeting.Marcus stood near a hot dog vendor. Pretending to read his phone. But his eyes were constantly moving. Scanning the crowd. Looking for Davis. Looking for Park. Looking for threats.The park was getting busier. Lunch hour approaching. Office workers on break. More tourists. More noise. More chaos.Good and bad. Good for cover. Bad for spotting specific individuals. Bad for maintaining control.Marcus's hand stayed close to his weapon. Under his jacket. Ready. Just in case.Across the plaza, Sarah was positioned near a bench. Also scanning. Also waiting. They'd catch each other's eyes every minute or so. Silent communication. Confirming they were both still there. Still alert. Still ready.11:51 AM.Nine minutes.Marcus saw her first. Park. Walking from the north entrance. Alone. Wearing jeans and a dark jacket. Hair pulled back. Sunglasses hiding her eyes.She moved carefully. Deliberately. Looking around consta

The storage unit was exactly what Park had described.Climate controlled. Ten by fifteen feet. Metal door. Concrete floor. A single overhead light that flickered when Sarah turned it on.But it was private. It was secure. It was somewhere they could work without interruption.Park unlocked the door with a key she'd been carrying. Inside was sparse. A few cardboard boxes. A folding table. Two camping chairs. A sleeping bag rolled in the corner."I've been staying here sometimes," Park explained. "When I couldn't risk a motel. When I needed somewhere the programming couldn't find me." She gestured around. "It's not much. But it's off grid. Cash rental. Fake name. Safe as anywhere can be right now."Sarah nodded. Set down her pack. Marcus came in behind her carrying the duffel with the equipment. He set it on the folding table. Unzipped it completely.Inside was exactly what Davis had promised. Military grade signal jammer. Broadband receiver. Cables. Power supply. Manual. Everything the

3:42 AM.Sarah's hands were cramping. Her eyes burned. Her back ached from hunching over the folding table for eight straight hours.But the first jammer was nearly complete.She soldered the last connection. A tiny joint connecting the oscillator to the amplifier circuit. The soldering iron hissed. Smoke curled. The solder flowed and solidified.Done.Sarah set down the iron. Stretched her fingers. Looked at what they'd built.It wasn't pretty. Exposed circuits. Wires everywhere. Components held together with electrical tape and determination. It looked like something a high school student would build for a science fair. Crude. Improvised. Barely functional.But it should work. In theory. If they'd done everything right. If the calculations were correct. If luck was on their side.Big ifs. Always big ifs.Marcus was working on the second jammer. His hands steady despite exhaustion. His focus absolute. He'd barely spoken in hours. Just worked. Methodical. Precise. Building something t

1:23 PM.Five hours and thirty-seven minutes until Project Blackout activated.Sarah sat in the driver's seat of the stolen sedan, parked in a lot overlooking Lake Michigan. The water stretched endlessly before her, gray and restless under cloudy skies. Waves lapping at the shore. Seagulls circling. Normal afternoon at the lake.But nothing felt normal. Everything felt suspended. Like the world was holding its breath. Waiting for something terrible or something miraculous. Waiting to see which way the scales would tip.Marcus was in the passenger seat, monitoring the jammers remotely. He'd set up a laptop connected to receivers that tracked each jammer's signal. Three green lights on the screen. Three signals broadcasting. Everything functional.For now.Park was in the back seat. Sleeping. Or trying to. She'd been awake for more than thirty hours. Her body had finally given out. Collapsed into exhausted unconsciousness.Sarah envied her. Wished she could sleep. But her mind wouldn't