Page 81 of Duty Compromised
Chapter 24
Charlotte
The quantum interference pattern flickered across my laptop screen like a digital heartbeat refusing to stabilize. Two days. That’s how long I’d been hunched over the desk in Ty’s parents’ guesthouse, chasing the last elusive segment of the stabilizer code.
We were running out of time.
My neck protested as I shifted position for the hundredth time, vertebrae popping in sequence. The black-market auction was scheduled for tomorrow. It was twenty-four hours until someone walked away with the ability to turn three billion devices into weapons, and I still couldn’t crack the final frequency harmonics needed to neutralize it.
“You need to eat something.”
I didn’t look up at Ty’s voice from the doorway. Couldn’t afford to. Every time I saw him, my concentration shattered—not just from attraction now, but from the memory of his hands on my skin, the way he’d held me after, like I was something precious and breakable all at once. We hadn’t talked about what happened at the motel. Hadn’t had time. But it hung between us like an unfinished equation.
“Not hungry.”
“That’s what you said six hours ago.”
Had it been that long? The numbers on my screen blurred together, variables and constants dancing in patterns that almost made sense before dissolving into chaos. My brain felt like overheated silicon, circuits firing randomly, connections failing.
“Charlotte.” His voice was closer now, carrying that particular mix of concern and affection he’d developed. Like he had the right to worry about me now. Which maybe he did. “The code won’t write itself any faster if you collapse.”
“It won’t write itself at all if I don’t figure out this last segment.” I highlighted another section of code, deleted it, started over. The thermal coefficient variations kept throwing off the resonance calculations. Every solution created two new problems, like some kind of quantum hydra.
I’d been shifted into the guest bedroom after the kitchen table became command central for the Citadel tactical planning sessions. My workspace now occupied the corner farthest from the door, surrounded by towers of empty coffee cups and crumpled papers covered in calculations.
Through the walls, I could hear Ethan’s voice, low and steady as he talked someone through something tactical. He’d transformed the kitchen into his operations base within hours of arriving, bringing a level of professional competence that made me understand why Citadel Solutions had the reputation it did.
Logan Kane, Ethan’s second-in-command, had arrived yesterday. If Ethan was controlled power, Logan was contained violence. He’d appeared in the doorway like a shadow given form, nodded once in acknowledgment, and disappeared outside. I’d barely seen him since. He preferred perimeter security, Ty had explained, working with Donovan and Ben to establish overlapping fields of coverage that would give us warning if anyone approached.
The door opened wider, and footsteps that weren’t Ty’s entered the room. Heavier. More deliberate.
“How’s it coming?” Ethan’s question was professional, but I heard the underlying concern. We all knew what would happen if I failed.
“It’s not.” The admission burned my throat. “I can identify the frequency signatures. I can create the interference pattern. But I can’t get them to synchronize without triggering a cascade failure in the baseband processor. It’s like…” I searched for an analogy he’d understand. “Like trying to defuse a bomb while someone else has their finger on the trigger.”
“What do you need?”
The question was so simple, so direct. What did I need? Time. Sleep. A brain that hadn’t been running on caffeine and desperation for forty-eight hours straight.
“A miracle,” I said.
“Fresh out of those.” Ethan’s tone was matter-of-fact. “But we’ve got Jace working his magic on the shell company. Everything’s in place for tomorrow’s auction. Multiple backup identities, untraceable funds, the works. All you have to do is give us something to deploy when we win the bidding.”
When. Not if. The confidence in his voice almost made me believe it was possible.
“How’s the threat assessment?” I asked, needing to think about something else for thirty seconds.
“Manageable. Three potential buyers we’ve identified so far. A terrorist cell out of Eastern Europe, a cartel with delusions of technological grandeur, and someone Jace thinks might be North Korean intelligence, though he’s still tracking that one.”
My fingers stilled on the keyboard. “Three groups who want to weaponize civilian infrastructure.”
“Four, if you count our shell company.” Ethan’s smile held no humor. “Jace has us set up as a separatist group out of the Balkans. Ethan Volkov, arms dealer with a grudge against NATO. Complete backstory, dark web presence, the works. Difference is, when we win the bidding, we’re destroying it.”
“If I can make this countermeasure work.”
“You will.”
The certainty in his voice made something twist in my chest. They were all counting on me. Ty, his team, the FBI, everyone who carried a phone in their pocket without knowing it could become a bomb.
