Chapter 13 - The Magnetic Trap
The red LED light beneath Tariq's boot pulsed faster, casting an eerie crimson glow across the rough wooden planks of the cabin porch. The cool evening wind rustled the pine branches overhead, but in the immediate clearing, absolute silence hung like a heavy shroud.
"Don't panic, Tariq," Eleanor said, keeping her voice completely calm as she knelt slowly beside the step, her fingers hovering near her tactical kit. "This is an older military-grade relay model. It doesn't detonate explosives; it's designed specifically to fry electronic surveillance and data storage units within a tight radius."
"That doesn't make me feel any better," Tariq grunted, sweat beading on his forehead as his leg muscles began to tremble from maintaining the awkward, unbalanced stance. "If this thing goes off, the micro-SD card in Clara's pocket turns into a useless piece of plastic."
Clara stepped closer, ignoring Eleanor's warning gesture. She reached into her cardigan pocket with agonizing slowness, her fingers brushing the zippered lining.
"What are you doing, Mrs. Vance? Get back!" Eleanor warned sharply, her hand gripping her service weapon while her other hand worked a specialized multi-tool from her belt.
"If the relay is magnetic," Clara said steadily, her voice unwavering, "then it requires a closed circuit to complete the discharge pulse. If we break the contact point without releasing the physical switch, the current has nowhere to ground."
Tariq blinked, looking down at her with a mix of awe and terror. "How do you know that?"
"My father was an electrical engineer for the railroad," Clara replied simply. "He taught me how to wire a telegraph before I was ten years old."
With delicate precision, Clara reached into her pocket, pulled out the micro-SD card encased in a small plastic anti-static sleeve, and slid it across the wooden deck toward Eleanor, keeping it entirely out of the magnetic field's immediate radius. Eleanor caught it deftly, sliding it immediately into a shielded Faraday pouch she wore around her neck.
"Card is secure," Eleanor breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, Tariq, on my count of three, I want you to shift your weight backward while I slide this copper grounding plate underneath your boot sole."
Tariq nodded, his muscles screaming from the strain. "One... two... three..."
With a synchronized movement, Tariq leaped backward onto the porch as Eleanor slammed the copper plate beneath the pressure switch. A sharp snap echoed through the clearing as the circuit grounded harmlessly into the damp earth, and the blinking red LED light flickered once and died, plunging the porch back into darkness.
They all stood there for a moment, catching their breath in the cold night air. Eleanor unlocked the heavy oak cabin door, pushing it open to reveal a warm, wood-paneled interior lit by an emergency lantern on a sturdy oak table.
As they stepped inside and Eleanor bolted the door behind them, Clara walked over to the table and placed her hand on the wooden surface. But as the lantern light flickered across the far wall, illuminating a map of the city pinned beside a corkboard of case notes, Tariq gasped.
May you like
Nailed to the center of the corkboard, right beside a photograph of Thomas Vance's old office, was an exact duplicate of the brass key Clara had carried in her purse all along.
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