Chapter 2 - Ghosts in the Code

We returned home under the watchful eye of an unmarked police escort parked down the street.

The guest house where Michael had lived sat dark and silent at the end of the stone driveway.

I carried Lily upstairs, tucked her into bed, and locked the bedroom window before heading down to my study.

The air in the house felt heavy, thick with the lingering scent of Michael's expensive sandalwood cologne.

I powered on my desktop terminal and opened the encrypted drive Anna had left behind for Lily's trust fund.

The screen flickered, displaying a glowing red warning box across the center of the display.

ACCESS DENIED: THIRD-PARTY OVERRIDE ACTIVE.

My hands began to tremble against the mechanical keyboard as I typed out the secondary recovery protocol.

A line of text scrolled rapidly across the dark interface, followed by a local IP address location.

The signal wasn't coming from an offshore server in Delaware or the Bahamas.

It was bouncing off the wireless router inside my own guest house.

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I reached into the desk drawer, pulled out a heavy brass flashlight, and stepped out into the dark backyard.