Page 123 of X Marks the Stalker
“Perfect isolation,” Darius says with a grim smile. “No one will hear him scream.”
I step closer to the display, studying the room’s specifications. “But how do we get inside in the first place? You need his codes to get in.”
“And more importantly, how do we get out after he’s dead?” Calloway adds. “Once Blackwell locks it, the panic room will stay locked for forty-eight hours. It's a security feature we can't bypass. Whoever is there with him will be sealed in.”
“We go in before he returns home,” Xander says, already pulling up The Archer’s maintenance schedules. “There’s a ventilation tunnel that runs behind the panic room wall. It will be our way in and out.”
“And once inside,” Darius continues, “we wait for Blackwell to seek refuge in what he thinks is his sanctuary.”
“We’ll need to give him a reason to use it,” I say, the pieces clicking together. “Create enough of a threat that he rushes straight for the panic room.”
“The distraction needs to be big,” Lazlo adds, eyes gleaming with excitement. “Something that will pull all the guards away from their posts.”
“I can handle that,” Calloway says with artistic pride. “Nothing sends a person running to safety like theright...theatrical elements. The juxtaposition of his safe space becoming his final gallery is iconic, honestly.”
The plan unfolds before us in a glowing blue light. I watch as each member adds their expertise, transforming a last-minute desperation move into something almost elegant. We’ll need to move fast. Create a hidden entrance into the panic room. Stage a threat loud enough to send Blackwell running straight into our trap.
I look around at these men who have appointed themselves judges, juries, and executioners. Who made this obsidian table their courtroom. Who carved out this hidden chamber beneath Boston’s elite to deliver the verdicts the law couldn’t—or wouldn’t.
And now I’m one of them.
“It’s perfect,” I say, surprising myself with how much I mean it.
Thorne’s watch beeps, breaking the moment. His eyes flash to the timepiece, then back to us with lethal focus.
“Gentlemen. Miss Novak. Blackwell’s flight leaves in four hours and twelve minutes.”
“So we’re doing this?” I ask, looking from face to face. “Really doing this?”
The men exchange glances, a silent communication system built on blood and shared secrets.
“We are,” Thorne confirms, his voice like a gavel falling. “But there’s one detail Miss Novak should understand before we proceed.”
Calloway’s eyes widen. Lazlo shifts in his chair. Even Darius looks uneasy. Only Xander stays perfectly still, his eyes never leaving my face.
“What detail?” I ask, my throat dry.
Thorne’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “The panic room we’re about to breach? Only you are small enough to go through the ventilation tunnel.”
Chapter 29
Oakley
“What?” The word comes out sharp, disbelieving. “I’m supposed to breach the wall alone? Crawl into the panic room by myself and—what—just wait for Blackwell to walk in so I can murder him?”
Five pairs of eyes watch my reaction.
Thorne taps a section of the 3D model. “This ventilation tunnel is seventeen-eighteen inches wide. It’s the only existing vulnerability in the panic room’s design, and even that was only created because of fire code requirements.”
“You’re the only one here who can fit,” Lazlo adds with clinical detachment. “The rest of us would get stuck halfway through. Physics is rather uncompromising that way.”
I look to Xander, expecting support. “So I just go in alone? Set up shop and kill the man who murdered my parents? Justlike that?”
“No.” Xander steps forward, voice firm. “She can’t do this alone.”
My relief curdles into indignation. “Wait. What do you mean I can’t? You don’t think I’m capable?”
Xander blinks, confusion crossing his face. “You literally just said?—”
