Page 65 of Playing with Fire

"Fine," I conceded, swallowing my impatience. "But we work fast. Every minute we spend verifying is another minute he has to plan his next move."

The search revealed multiple properties across southeast Ohio, all remote, all perfect for his purposes. We'd just begun gathering evidence on Felix when a sharp alert blared through the room, red lights flashing across the security displays.

"Perimeter breach detected. Sector seven," Chance announced, voice suddenly crisp with urgency. "Security protocols activated."

My blood ran cold. Sector seven was the eastern perimeter, the most vulnerable approach to the mansion due to the dense tree coverage.

"Show me the footage," I demanded, already moving to the main security console.

The screens flickered, showing a grainy night vision image of movement through the trees, then abruptly went black. One by one, every monitor in the room shut down.

"Chance," I called, "restore visual. Now."

No response. The AI remained silent, which never happened. A cold dread settled in my stomach.

"Chance," Leo tried, "system status report."

Nothing. The silence stretched unnaturally complete in a house where technology controlled everything.

"Someone's in the system," I said, moving toward the security panel by the door. The screen displayed a message that confirmed my worst fears: SYSTEM OVERRIDE IN PROGRESS.

"Phoenix?" Leo's eyes widened.

"Has to be," I confirmed, my mind racing. Shit. Our deep search into Felix's background could have triggered an alert in his systems. If he was monitoring for anyone accessing his records, we might as well have sent him a formal invitation. "We need to check on Maxime and the security team."

I drew my Glock from its holster at the small of my back, the familiar weight settling into my palm. Beside me, Xander was already twisting one of their chunky silver rings to reveal the concealed blade. Xion simply cracked his knuckles and grabbed a heavy metal paperweight from the desk, weighing it like a potential weapon.

All traces of their earlier playfulness were gone, replaced by the cold efficiency that made us such effective operators. Leo stayed close to me, unarmed but alert.

The hallways were eerily silent, emergency lighting casting harsh shadows across walls that had seemed so safe just moments before. We moved as a unit, checking corners, maintaining discipline despite the adrenaline surging through our systems.

A door flew open to our left, and I whipped around, Glock aimed and ready. Shepherd stepped out, hands raised slightly when he saw the weapon. He took in our combat stance, the weapons, our expressions.

"System's compromised," he said, not a question. Behind him, Eli peered nervously around the doorframe. "We lost communications five minutes ago."

"We think it's Phoenix," I explained, lowering my gun slightly.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Xion asked, still gripping the paperweight like he intended to cave someone's skull in with it.

"Boone was heading for the east wing security station," Shepherd replied, his voice perfectly controlled despite the situation. "Said something felt off. That was before the systems went down."

My stomach tightened. If whoever had compromised the security system had managed to breach the Sentinel's physical defenses as well, Boone could be walking into danger. The mercenary was good, but even the best could be caught off guard by a well-planned ambush.

"We need to find him," Xion said.

"Agreed, but staying together is safer," I countered. "We check the main security station first, then fan out if necessary."

A crash echoed from somewhere deeper in the house, followed by a muffled shout that sounded like Boone. Xion was already moving before I could stop him, all thoughts of strategy abandoned.

"Xion, wait!" I called, but he was gone, disappearing around the corner.

"Go," Shepherd said, nodding at me and Xander. "We'll check the west wing, make sure everyone else is safe."

I hesitated, hating to split our forces, but there wasn't time to argue. "Be careful," I told Shepherd. "This guy's smart."

"So are we," Shepherd replied with cold confidence.

We parted ways, Shepherd and Eli heading west while Leo, Xander and I pursued Xion. The hallways stretched before us, suddenly sinister in their emptiness.

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