Page 103 of Knight

He tries to argue but sways again, then nods.

The bedroom is dark and quiet. Michael's breathing evens out almost before he's fully horizontal. Whatever they gave him to keep him coding seems to be wearing off, leaving bone-deep exhaustion in its wake.

When I return to the kitchen, the men are deep in planning mode. Bishop and Rook gather their gear while Knight and Victor work on untangling the various data trails. The hunt for their main facility drives every action, every decision.

These people took my brother, forced him to help them create something dangerous. Now they plan to use that same technology against other companies, stealing and selling whatever they want. The idea of someone with that much power at their fingertips is chilling.

I settle into the chair beside Knight, watching streams of data flow across his screen. He doesn't acknowledge my presence, but his body adjusts slightly, making space for me.

We have to find their headquarters before they move their operation. Before they can use what they forced Michael and Victor to build. Before they disappear with everything they've stolen.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

Knight

Data streams across my screens,lines of code and network patterns forming a complete picture of what the virus’s true intention is. Victor stands at my shoulder, pointing out the sequences he was forced to design. Normally, having someone in my space while I work is enough to put them on my hit list. But with Victor? It’s different.

He taught me how to break into systems with more finesse when I thought I was good at hacking. Then he showed me how wrong I was. He’s the guy who turned me from a cocky hacker into someone who could rip apart systems like this without breaking a sweat. The man who trained me in everything from basic penetration testing to advanced system dismantling is now helping me tear through his own architecture.

“There.” Victor taps the screen with one finger. “That sequence—I wrote it to mask their data transfers at the facility where they held us. See how the packet size has tripled here?”

“Amateur move,” I mutter, expanding the sequence. “Efficient for about five minutes until someone like me gets their hands on it.”

Victor snorts quietly, his version of a laugh. “I’d call it elegant under pressure.”

“More like rushed and sloppy.” I smirk, half expecting him to elbow me for that one. Instead, he just points to another stream, completely unruffled.

“This one is more interesting. See how it syncs with external nodes? They’re using a decentralized architecture to minimize detection. It looks random but isn’t.”

I glance at him, eyebrow raised. “Your work?”

“Modified. Sloppily,” he adds with a pointed look.

I grin. “Good thing they didn’t hire you for quality control.”

Eva steps closer. “What exactly are you two doing?”

I lean back slightly, so she can see the screen. Not that she has the first clue what she’s looking at. “Hacking into their systems. You know, just a little light cybercrime to start the morning.”

Victor, ever the professional, doesn’t bother with sarcasm. “We’re tracking their data transfers to find their main facility. They’ve hidden it well, but not well enough.”

Eva glances between us.

I tap the screen with one finger. “We’re finding the breadcrumbs they tried to sweep under the digital rug. Thanks to Victor’s ... let's call itartisanal expertise, I’ve got a backdoor into their network.”

Victor’s eyebrow twitches, the closest he’ll ever get to rolling his eyes at me. “The backdoor exists because they rushed implementation, which gave me a way to make mistakes. If they’d had more time?—”

I smirk. “If they’d had more time, they’d still lose to me.”

“Careful, boy. Pride has a way of catching up with people.”

“Not me.” I pull up more streams. “There. Their traffic is routing through this industrial complex.” I bring up satellite imagery of the site. “Three buildings, but based on power consumption, only two are active. That’s where they’re running their operation.”

Victor leans closer. “Let me see the nodes.”

I switch screens, bringing up the detailed logs. Victor’s eyes narrow as he studies them, his focus reminding me of the hundreds of hours I spent watching him work back when he was teaching me.

“This one.” He points to a node. “It’s routing encrypted data packets every six hours. Regular updates. It’s their core server cluster.”

---