Chapter 11 - The Unknown Transmission
Marcus scrambled to his feet, leaving Elena kneeling on the kitchen floor, and sprinted back into the dining room. Officer Miller was shining his tactical flashlight against the walls, trying in vain to locate a manual release latch for the reinforced window shutters. Investigator Davis stood frozen by the dining table, her face illuminated by the bright, pulsing light of the tablet screen.
"What is it?" Marcus demanded, skidding to a halt beside her.
"The network went offline, but this device had a secondary local mesh connection," Davis said, her voice tight with disbelief. She turned the tablet toward him.
The screen no longer displayed the video archive or the encrypted folder. Instead, it showed a live video feed from an exterior camera mounted high above the front porch. A sleek, black van idling at the curb was visible in the grainy night-vision footage. The side door of the van slid open, and a figure wearing a dark tactical hoodie stepped out, carrying a heavy metallic case.
"Who is that?" Marcus asked, his heart hammering against his ribs like a caged bird.
"Not police, and not social services," Officer Miller muttered, stepping away from the jammed front door to join them. He peered at the screen, his expression darkening. "That’s private extraction hardware. Look at the frequency jammer on top of the van. They aren't trying to break in—they're executing a remote extraction protocol."
"An extraction of whom?" Davis asked, her eyes widening as the horrifying realization dawned on her.
From the dark hallway leading to the kitchen, a soft, mechanical whirring sound echoed through the house. The heavy deadbolt on the pantry door clicked once, twice, and then slid back into its housing. The door slowly creaked open, revealing the dark, empty interior.
Leo was gone.
Marcus spun around, shouting down the dark hallway, "Leo! Leo, where are you?!"
There was no answer. Only the faint draft of cool night air drifting through the house from the back utility exit leading to the garage.
Elena stumbled into the dining room, her face stained with tears, pointing frantically toward the rear of the house. "The garage! There’s an exterior service door that opens directly to the alley! I forgot... I forgot I gave him the backup override code last week when he promised he’d stop logging into the forums!"
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Marcus didn't wait for her to finish. He bolted past her, sprinting down the dark utility corridor toward the garage, his chest heaving, driven by a desperate paternal instinct to stop whatever nightmare his son was walking into.
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