Page 124 of BounBound By Scars

|You slipped through my backdoor at the White House. That should’ve been impossible. So tell me, Cipher… how did you do it? :)

My heart dropped. My fingers tapped fast now.

Cipher: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

|Lie again and I take another. :)

What the fuck?

Cipher: Take who?

There was a pause.

|You bypassed three layers of classified surveillance. You ghosted Crazon. Altered the security system of White House. :)

|You used something else, didn’t you? :)

I was shaking now. My jaw clenched. This wasn’t a bot. Did they know about Sentrix? Fuck.

Cipher: What do you want from me?

The answer was slower this time. I could almost feel the breathing on the other side.

|You’re a loose end. A problem Mr. Romano intends to solve. :)

I was trying to formulate a response when it messaged again.

|We didn’t mean to kill her. :(

My chest caved in.

Amelia.

|The shot was to shake you. Submission works better when you’re broken. :)

|Oh, I almost forgot! :)

I froze. The cursor blinked once. Twice.

Then a command auto-executed.

|transmitting file…

A new window popped up. Encrypted image files, opening one by one.

Image 001: Kavya. My sister. Smiling in a Delhi park with her boyfriend. Yesterday’s timestamp.

Image 002: Iris Desmond. Dylan and Amelia’s kid sister. Working in her apartment two days ago. The view… was from outside her window.

Image 003: My parents. Laughing near the Nainital lake. Dated a week ago.

My stomach twisted.

Image 004: Kaylan’s parents. Dead. Laid out on their bed in Boston.

I choked on my breath. My vision blurred with tears.

Image 005: Leora’s parents. Dancing in their living room. Three days ago. In Milton, Ontario.

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