Page 78 of Sypher

“You’ll see soon enough.”

November 29,2024, place unknown,

Time seemed to stand still.

I didn’t know if it was day or night or how long we had been in this room. All I knew was that one minute federal agents were escorting me into a waiting plane, and the next I was thrown into a stark white room with a metal table and four chairs to find Danny with his feet up on a table, head thrown back, snoring.

Sometime later, the door opened, and two men shoved Phantom into the room with us. And there we stayed. In a room with no windows. No clock to tell us what time it was. No two-way mirror. Nothing.

Plus, it was fucking cold.

We walked around the room to keep warm, never really saying anything. I didn’t need to be told that whoever had us was listening. All I cared about was where in the hell we were. This place wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen before. When the plane landed, I quickly scanned the area and knew this place wasn’t just any federal prison facility. The heavily armed men and the extreme security protocols to even get in the building was enough to tell me that, but as time passed, and the more they made us wait, the more I became worried we were never going to get out of this place.

Leaning against the cold wall, I slowly slid down to the floor and pulled my legs up, wrapping my arms around them to keep warm as my stomach grumbled. I had a feeling we were going to be in here for the long haul. Turning my head, I laid my head down on my arms and closed my eyes when something occurred to me.

Slowly looking around the room, I got up and really took a look at the room I was in. From the naked eye, it was a non-descript room that gave nothing away. But if this was the facility Danny told me about, then I knew somewhere in this room there was a camera.

All I had to do was find it.

And that’s what I did for what felt like hours, days, weeks even.

Running my hand across the cold concrete wall, I took my time, trying to find any imperfection when the door opened and in walked the same heavily armed man carrying a tray. Throwing it on the table, he did an about-face and quickly slammed the door.

“Fucking bologna sandwiches on white bread again.” Lena groaned, shoving the tray away. “What I wouldn’t give for a slice of pizza.”

“I could eat a fat juicy burger slathered in onions and fries,” Danny stated then added, “Dante, what the hell are you doing?”

“Looking for the damn camera.” I huffed loudly, tired of all the pretense. I knew those fuckers were watching us. They fucking knew what I was doing. They just figured I wouldn’t be able to find it. Well, screw that. I wanted out of this fucking room just as much as Phantom did.

“There isn’t one.” Lena groaned, laying her head on the table. “We already checked.”

“It’s here. I know it. It’s the only reason I can think of as to why they are keeping us in here together. They figure we’ll eventually break and say something incriminating.”

“If I eat another bologna sandwich, I’m gonna say a lot more than that,” Lena muttered, then shouted, “You hear that, motherfuckers. Bring me another goddamned bologna sandwich and see what the fuck happens! Bring us real fucking food!”

“Well.” Danny chuckled, reaching for her sandwich. “If you’re not gonna eat yours.”

Before he could grab her sandwich I snagged it, throwing the bologna on the table, and spitting on the slice of white bread.

“What the hell, Dante? I was gonna eat that!”

“Do you know what they put in white bread?” I asked, turning back to the wall, spitting on the bread again. “Gluten. And do you know what gluten is also used for?”

“If you say pizza I’m going to strangle you.”

“Glue.” I continued talking while I mixed my saliva with the bread, turning it into a thick paste. “Gluten is a good bonding agent and is used for many things, including disrupting sound. Did you know that when wet gluten adheres to any surface, it hardens, distorting sound waves, making it nearly impossible to hear anything?”

“Awesome,” Lena snarked. “Thanks for the science lesson.”

Ignoring her, I separated my fingers and smiled at the thick creamy consistency before slamming my hand against the wall, smearing my hand all over it, making sure to shove enough of the paste in the tiny crevice I found. Turning back to the table, I took the remaining slice of white bread and placed it directly over the wet goo, then leaned against it.

“Now that’s taken care of, I figure we’ve got about three minutes before they come in here.”

Sitting up, Lena looked at Danny, who was smiling from ear to ear. “Took you long enough.”

“Yeah well, in my defense, it was fucking hard to find.”

“Getting your eyes checked the moment we get home, babe.”

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