The message remained on Mason's screen long after everyone had stopped speaking.PHASE TWO BEGINS TONIGHT.Ethan stared at it.“Can you find where it came from?”Mason shook his head. “That's the problem. It didn't come from outside.”Olivia frowned. “Then where?”Mason slowly looked at the others.“It came from inside my system.”Donovan's hand moved toward his weapon.“You think someone has access to your equipment?”“I know someone does.”Ethan stepped closer. “Can they see us?”Mason looked at the camera indicator on his laptop.“It gets worse. They may have been watching us for days.”Olivia immediately covered the camera with a piece of tape.Ethan checked the tunnel.“Then we assume everything is compromised.”They moved deeper underground.The tunnel eventually opened into an abandoned maintenance room. Mason placed his laptop on a concrete ledge and removed the battery.“Until I figure this out, nothing electronic stays connected.”Donovan looked at Ethan.“We need to know wh

The smoke could be seen from three blocks away.Ethan stood at the end of the street, watching flames consume Nathan Cole's house.Firefighters moved through the yard while police officers kept curious neighbors behind the barricades.Too many police.Ethan didn't trust any of them.“Something's wrong,” Olivia whispered.Ethan nodded.“If this was a robbery, they wouldn't have this many officers.”Donovan studied the scene.“Some of those men aren't police.”Mason looked through a small pair of binoculars.“Three vehicles have government plates.”Ethan's eyes narrowed.“Then Cole's disappearance was planned.”They stayed in the shadows until the fire crews began pulling back.Ethan crossed the street.“Wait,” Olivia said.He looked back.“I'm not going in to rescue anyone.”“Then what are you doing?”“Looking for what they wanted us to miss.”He slipped behind the barricade and entered the property.The heat was intense.Smoke filled the hallway.Ethan covered his mouth and moved quic

The first man through the doorway barely had time to raise his weapon.Ethan fired once.The man dropped.“Move!” Ethan shouted.Gunfire erupted through the underground corridor.Olivia ducked behind a concrete pillar while Mason dragged Cole toward the server room.Donovan returned fire from the opposite side.“Ethan!”He looked over.Three armed men were advancing from another corridor.“They're surrounding us!”Ethan grabbed Olivia's arm.“Server room. Now!”They sprinted.Bullets struck the walls behind them.Mason reached the security door and slammed his hand against the emergency panel.Nothing happened.“It's locked!”Ethan looked toward him.“You opened it before.”“This isn't a normal lock!”Cole stepped forward.“Use Ethan's fingerprint.”Mason stared at him.“Why?”“Because the entire facility belongs to him.”Ethan pressed his hand against the scanner.The door opened instantly.They rushed inside.Mason slammed it shut.Heavy footsteps approached from outside.Then silen

The lights went out.For three seconds, the underground facility was completely black.Then emergency lights flickered on.One after another.Red.Mason stared at the terminal.“That wasn't supposed to happen.”Ethan grabbed his shoulder.“What did we activate?”“I don't know.”“Find out.”“I’m trying.”Mason's fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard.Across the facility, machines began waking up.Fans spun.Servers hummed.Deep beneath the floor, something heavy started moving.Olivia looked around.“What is that sound?”Donovan raised his weapon.“It sounds like an engine.”“No,” Cole said quietly.“It's an elevator.”A violent metallic groan came from beneath them.Everyone turned toward the floor.A circular section of concrete slowly separated.A platform began rising.Ethan stepped back.The platform stopped.A man stood on it.Thomas Carter.Alive.But something was wrong.His hands were restrained behind his back, and blood covered one side of his face.“Dad!”Ethan rushed t

Footsteps echoed through the chamber.Slow.Measured.Getting closer.Ethan raised his weapon.Olivia moved beside him.Thomas didn't move at all.His eyes were fixed on the doorway.The footsteps stopped.A woman's voice came from the darkness.“You shouldn't have brought him here.”Ethan's breath caught.He knew that voice.Not from memory.From dreams.For years, he had dreamed of a woman calling his name from somewhere he could never reach.“Mom?”The woman stepped into the light.Ethan lowered his weapon.She looked older than the woman in his childhood photographs, but there was no mistaking her.Same eyes.Same face.Same small scar above her eyebrow.His mother.Alive.She looked at Thomas first.“You failed.”Thomas swallowed.“I know.”Then she looked at Ethan.For several seconds, neither spoke.Finally, she whispered his name.“Ethan.”He took one step forward.“You're really my mother.”Her eyes filled with tears.“Yes.”Ethan's jaw tightened.“Then why did you let me bel