Chapter 4 - The Signal That Found Them
The vibration lasted three seconds.
Then stopped.
Jack stared at the capsule in his palm.
It had no visible button, speaker, or light.
Emily leaned closer.
“Was that a phone?”
“No.”
“A tracker?”
“Maybe.”
The teenager lowered his voice.
“Someone knows where it is.”
Jack scanned the intersection.
The white sedan from the video was nowhere in sight.
But a dark SUV idled half a block away beneath a broken streetlight.
Its windshield reflected too much glare to see inside.
Jack slid the capsule into the inside pocket of his jacket.
“We leave separately.”
Emily frowned.
“You think we’re being followed?”
“I know I am.”
The teenager’s face went pale.
“My video—”
“Back it up somewhere that isn’t your phone.”
“I already sent it to my cloud account.”
“Send it to someone you trust.”
The boy nodded quickly.
Jack turned to Emily.
“Go home.”
“You don’t know where I live.”
“They might.”
Her expression hardened.
“I was just a witness.”
“So was he.”
Jack nodded toward the teenager.
“That didn’t stop someone from following the bus.”
The driver called them back under the shelter while police cleared the road.
He introduced himself as Daniel Ross.
His hands shook as he held a paper cup of station coffee.
“The live camera feed didn’t go to the police,” he said quietly.
Jack’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“When I pressed the emergency stream, dispatch said they weren’t receiving it. But the indicator showed an active connection.”
“Who was receiving it?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel looked toward the bus.
“Our system was upgraded last month. New contractor. Remote security maintenance.”
“What company?”
“Northstar Civic Technologies.”
Jack knew the name.
Northstar supplied surveillance software to transit agencies, hospitals, and municipal buildings across several states.
It also employed former military intelligence officers.
One of them had once served beside Jack.
Elias Voss.
Jack had watched Elias die in a burning convoy eleven years ago.
At least, that was what the official report said.
Emily noticed Jack’s reaction.
“You know the company?”
“I know who built it.”
A police sergeant approached and told them they were free to leave.
Jack asked about the hooded man.
The sergeant checked his tablet.
“No arrest listed under that description.”
“He was handcuffed on this bus.”
“Then he was released before processing.”
“By whom?”
“No record.”
The sergeant’s patience thinned.
“Mr. Mercer, you defended your animal. The complainant is being held for assault and disorderly conduct. Take the win.”
Jack looked at Tommy inside the cruiser.
Tommy was no longer shouting.
He sat perfectly still, staring through the rain at Jack.
Not with anger.
With fear.
Then Tommy raised one bound hand and pointed toward the dark SUV.
The SUV’s headlights came on.
Jack reached for Emily and pulled her behind the shelter’s steel frame.
The vehicle accelerated.
It did not drive toward them.
It passed slowly, close enough for Jack to see the silhouette of the driver.
A woman.
Short hair.
Straight posture.
She lifted two fingers from the steering wheel in a gesture Jack recognized from his former unit.
Safe passage compromised.
The SUV vanished into traffic.
Jack’s breathing stopped for half a second.
Daniel stared after it.
“Who was that?”
Jack did not answer.
The woman had been Major Rebecca Vale.
His commanding officer.
The person who had signed the report confirming Elias Voss’s death.
Jack had not seen her since the day she ordered him to surrender Duke to a military research program.
He had refused.
Hours later, Jack’s service record had been sealed, his commendations removed from public databases, and his career quietly ended.
Emily touched his sleeve.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“No,” Jack said.
He looked toward the cruiser holding Tommy.
“I’ve seen the person who buried one.”
May you like
The cruiser door stood open.
Tommy was gone.
