Page 126 of Dash

Like a defeated turd.

Tracker Team was still an experiment. This was a Hail Mary, but I had to try.

“You’ve got three mikes,” Shaw announced.

Three minutes. My gaze flew to the gilded grandfather clock ticking quietly in the corner. This was gonna take both skill and speed.

“Go.” Shaw flicked off the jammer on his belt.

“Control,” I called out. “This is Omega. BB-ID, FIFE, FOW-ER, AIT. Do you copy?”

“This is control.” Mina’s voice crackled in my ear, sharpened by a hint of surprise. “FIFE, FOW-ER, AIT, we copy. We got a visual on you. Over”

The use of “we” instead of “I” cued me in. One or more of the members of the team stood around Mina’s screen, taking in the Arthur & Shaw shitshow. Let them see the traitors at work. I had a message to deliver and I better be smart about how I did it.

“Control, I’ve got three mikes.” I rattled out the words as if I were shooting rounds from an automatic.

“Copy that,” Mina replied briskly.

“This is not a drill. I repeat. This is not a drill. You will deactivate the defense system and conduct a complete evacuation of the house, all souls, stat.”

Mina’s voice came out in a squeak. “Come again?”

“Deactivate defense system,” I repeated Shaw’s instructions like a damn robot. “Complete evac. All souls. Use the house’s main egress route through the front gates to safely withdraw. All other routes are compromised. Account for all personnel, including visitors and staff. Establish Cook and Sandy’s location and proceed accordingly.” There was a piece of advice, if only they caught it.

“The sniper,” Arthur interjected. “Get him to join the others.”

“Recall sniper. Assemble the team and proceed through the main gates only. The house is wired to blow. You’ve got twenty mikes from the end of this communication. Do you copy?”

“We copy.” Mina’s voice was leveled and brisk. “What about you and Thena?”

“They’ll die if this house is not evacuated in time.” Arthur leered at the camera. “You’ll die, too, if you stick around, so follow the instructions exactly.”

“I’ve got concealed motion detectors along the route to make sure you comply,” Shaw added, the fucking traitor. “I’ll be monitoring your movements. I’m also monitoring the defense grid. I’ll know when it goes down.”

Silence on the comms. If the weapon he pointed at me was not enough to reveal his role in all of this, his words had done the trick.

After a few seconds, Mina’s professional voice crackled in my ear, “FIFE, FOW-ER, AIT, are these your instructions?”

“Affirmative,” I said. “Execute evac. Stat.”

“Copy that.”

My heart dropped when Mina went silent. I stole a glance at the clock. We were running out of time. A drop of sweat dripped beneath my shirt and between my shoulder blades. The seconds ticked by as long as hours before Mina’s voice returned to echo in the room.

“This is control.” She came on again. “We need your authentication code to execute orders as stated. Do you copy?”

Mina was, as usual, on point.

“Control, I copy. Authentication code,” I said and prayed. “WUN. WUN TREE. TOO. TOO TOO. WUN NIN-ER. AIT.”

“Copy that. Confirm. WUN. WUN TREE. TOO. TOO TOO. WUN NIN-ER. AIT.”

“Confirmed.”

“Verifying.” The clicks of Mina’s keyboard came through loud and clear.

“What did that mumble jumble mean?” Arthur demanded.

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