Lucy jumped slightly, knocking over her coffee in the process and Corey immediately tensed, one hand moving instinctively toward the gun tucked under his jacket.
"Barnaby," Lucy said sharply, her voice edged with alarm, "what’s going on?"
Corey narrowed his eyes, already stepping between Lucy and the window as a precaution.
Barnaby smirked, tapping a button on the side of his watch.
"I think," he said with barely restrained excitement, "I’ve caught a mouse."
Without waiting for a response, he whipped open his laptop and dropped into the seat, fingers flying over the keys. His screens blinked to life, as code streamed faster than Lucy could follow.
Corey tapped his earpiece, his voice low but urgent.
"David, you need to get to Lucy's office now."
The room shifted immediately. The playful teasing was gone. In its place, a heavy tension settled over all of them.
Seconds dragged into minutes as Lucy, Corey, and David—who arrived in record time—stood around Barnaby, who was hunched over his setup, typing furiously.
Lucy felt her heart hammering against her ribs. She barely breathed. Her mind raced with possibilities. Had the breach finally escalated to a direct threat?
Barnaby’s brow furrowed in concentration; his mouth set in a tight line.
"Come on, come on," he muttered under his breath. "Show yourself..."
Then, he stopped typing. His fingers hovered above the keyboard. His head slowly turned toward Lucy, a massive grin spreading across his face.
"Found them," he said triumphantly. "They're here, Lucy. Right here.”
"Here?" Lucy repeated, stunned. "You mean—"
"Inside this building," Barnaby said, eyes flashing with victory. "Not just the building. They're logged into the internal server from one of the office terminals."
David swore under his breath.
"Wait," Barnaby continued, his fingers dancing again, "it's leading me..."
On the central screen, a digital map of the Morgan Group’s headquarters glowed bright. A red dot pulsed gently, moving from one section to another.
"The system is tracking their movement in real-time," Barnaby explained quickly. "I'm piggybacking off their access trail."
Lucy and Corey leaned in closer.
"Where are they?" Corey asked.
"Give it a second," Barnaby replied. "And get this—once I access their station, I can connect directly to their webcam."
Lucy’s blood chilled.
"We can see them?"
Barnaby nodded, eyes gleaming.
"I built a micro-siphon tool last night. If I click this button, I’ll access their device—camera, microphone, even stored files—without them knowing."
He hovered his finger above the enter key.
"Are you ready for me to click this button?"